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BV  215  .T48 

Thomas,  W.  H.  Griffith  1861 

1924. 
Life  abiding  and  abounding 


LIFE  ABIDING 
AND  ABOUNDING 


BIBLE  STUDIES  IN  PRAYER  AND 
MEDITATION 


W.  H.  GRIFFITH  THOMAS.  D.  D. 

WYCLIFFE  COLLEGE,  TORONTO 
AND  FORMERLY  PRINCIPAL  OF  WYCLIFFE  HALL.  OXFORD 


CHICAGO 

THl  BIBLE  INSTITUTE  COLPORTAGE  ASSOCIATION 

8M  NORTH  LA  SALLE  STREET 


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CONTENTS 

Page 
Introduction         -  -  -         -  -    .      _  5 


CHAPTER  I 
"More  Than  My  Necessary  Food" 

1 .  The  Life  Faithful  to  God      -  -  -  9 

2.  The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart        -         -     12 

3.  The  Methods  of  Meditation  -         -         22 

CHAPTER  II 
"The  Christian's  Vital  Breath" 

1 .  Aspects  of  Prayer             -  -         -         -     88 

2.  Subjects  of  Prayer        -         -  -         -         42 
S.  Conditions  of  Prayer         -  -         -          -     58 

4.  Accompaniments  of  Prayer  -  -         -         67 


INTRODUCTION 

"  A  BIDE  in  Me,  and  I  in  you."  This  is  the 
/"^^  clear  command  of  our  Lord.  It  is  the  last 
and  culminating  point  of  His  will  as  revealed  in 
the  four  great  words:  Come  unto  Me;  Learn  of 
Me;  Follow  Me;  Abide  in  Me.  It  also  expresses 
the  intense  desire  of  every  Christian  heart.  "Oh 
that  thou  wouldest  bless  me  indeed,  and  enlarge 
my  coast,  and  that  Thine  hand  might  be  with  me, 
and  that  Thou  wouldest  keep  me  from  evil,  that 
it  may  not  grieve  me!"  (I  Chron.  iv.  10).  **0 
that  my  ways  were  made  so  direct  that  I  might 
keep  Thy  statutes"  (Psa.  cxix.  5,  Prayer  Book 
Version).  And  since  God  never  commands  with- 
out giving  grace  to  obey,  and  never  prompts  the 
heart  to  desire  what  cannot  be  granted,  we  may  be 
sure  that  the  command  to  abide  can  be  obeyed  and 
that  the  desire  to  abide  will  be  satisfied. 

But  how?  The  present  little  book  is  an  en- 
deavour to  answer  this  question  by  calling  attention 
to  the  twofold  secret  of  abiding  in  Christ;  the 
Word  of  God,  and  Prayer.  The  Christian  life  is 
set  forth  in  Holy  Scripture  as  pre-eminently  a  life 
of  fellowship  with  God,  and  fellowship  has  for  its 
essential  quality  the  privilege  of  reciprocal  com- 
munion;   God    speaks    to    the    believer    and    the 


6  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

believer  speaks  to  God.  This  reciprocal  com- 
munion is  obviously  summed  up  in  the  Bible  and 
Prayer ;  for  it  is  through  the  Bible  that  God  speaks 
to  us  and  through  Prayer  that  we  speak  to  God. 
Everything  in  the  Christian  life,  individual  and 
corporate,  is  somehow  or  other  associated  with  the 
Bible  and  Prayer.  All  the  "means  of  grace," 
private  and  public,  are  connected  with  the  Word 
of  God  and  with  Prayer  to  God.  Do  we  worship 
in  secret?  It  must  be  by  prayer  and  by  hearing 
"what  God  the  Lord  will  speak.*'  Do  we  draw 
near  to  God  in  company  with  His  people.'*  It  can 
only  be  as  warranted  by  His  Word  and  expressed 
in  Prayer.  Do  we  participate  in  the  Sacraments 
of  the  Gospel.'*  They  derive  their  spiritual  mean- 
ing and  blessing  as  symbols  and  pledges  of  God's 
revelation  of  Himself;  they  are  "visible  signs  to 
which  are  annexed  promises." 

Thus  the  Word  and  Prayer  are  never  absent 
from  our  life,  and  never  far  apart  from  each 
other.  In  the  life  of  Old  Testament  believers 
they  were  always  connected  (Psa.  xix. ;  cxix.). 
In  the  life  of  our  Lord  they  are  constantly 
found  together  (John  xvii.).  In  the  life  of  the 
Early  Church  they  are  ever  united  (Acts  iv.  24, 
25;  vi.  4).  In  relation  to  the  Holy  Spirit  they 
are  inseparably  connected  (Eph.  vi.  17,  18). 
There  is  not  a  single  channel  of  belief,  not  a  single 


Introduction  7 

element  of  experience,  not  a  single  pathway  of 
service,  not  a  single  privilege,  not  a  single  grace, 
not  a  single  hope,  not  a  single  possibility  which  is 
not  in  some  way  associated  with  the  Word  and 
Prayer.  When  these  two  are  allowed  to  occupy  in 
our  life  the  place  they  occupy  in  God's  purpose 
and  plan  for  us,  we  have  learnt  the  essential  con- 
ditions, the  blessed  secret,  the  unspeakable  joy  of 
abiding  in  Christ  and  abounding  for  Christ. 

The  first  chapter  of  this  book  is  an  amplification 
of  an  address  delivered  at  Keswick.  The  second 
is  a  much-enlarged  form  of  a  Bible  reading  given 
at  Northfield,  which  was  subsequently  issued  as  a 
booklet  and  is  not  now  available  in  that  form. 


CHAPTER  I 

"MORE  THAN  MY  NECESSARY  FOOD" 

IN  the  course  of  a  conversation  during  a  Kes- 
wick Convention  a  friend  said,  "Now,  suppose 
someone  yields  himself  to  God  and  receives  a  bless- 
ing at  one  of  these  meetings,  how  is  it  possible  for 
him  to  avoid  relapsing  into  his  former  spiritual 
condition?  Will  it  not  be  necessary  for  him  to  be 
propped  up  in  some  way?"  I  did  not  quite  like 
the  phrase  "propped  up,"  because  it  implied  help 
from  outside,  rather  than  from  within,  but  I  re- 
plied: "There  will,  of  course,  be  the  danger  of 
relapse;  but  together  with  the  blessing  comes  the 
call  to  abide  and  to  fulfill  the  conditions  of  abid- 
ing." My  friend  said:  "What  are  these?"  I 
answered:  "Speaking  after  the  manner  of  the 
body,  they  are  three — pure  air,  good  food,  and  con- 
stant exercise — the  atmosphere  of  prayer,  the  food 
of  the  Word,  and  the  exercise  of  obedience.  When 
the  act  of  surrender  is  thus  transmuted  into  an 
attitude,  the  attitude  will  become  a  habit,  and  from 
the  habit  will  come  character." 

Is  not  this  the  spiritual  position  and  the  spiritual 
need  of  very  many  Christians  ?  They  are  conscious 
of  having  entered  into  a  true  spiritual  relation  to 
Christ;  His  grace  is  a  reality,  His  presence  is  a 


The  Life  Faithful  to  God  9 

joy,  His  peace  is  a  comfort.  But  they  are  sadly 
afraid  that  these  experiences  will  not  last,  that 
they  will  lose  their  present  happiness  and  descend 
to  a  lower  stage  of  spiritual  life.  What  they  need, 
therefore,  and  what  they  desire  above  all  things, 
is  to  know  the  secret  of  remaining  where  and  as 
they  are ;  or,  rather,  the  secret  of  both  of  not  going 
back  and  also  of  going  forward,  the  secret  of 
abiding  and  abounding.  They  read  in  Scripture 
of  "abiding  in  Christ"  (John  xv.  4),  of  "abiding 
in  His  love"  (John  xv.  10),  of  "continuing  in 
prayer"  (Col.  iv.  2),  of  "always  abounding  in  the 
work  of  the  Lord"  (1  Cor.  xv.  58),  of  "going  from 
strength  to  strength"  (Psa.  Ixxxiv.  7).  And  very 
naturally  and  rightly  they  desire  to  know  the  secret 
of  it  all. 

What,  then,  is  the  secret  of  abiding.^  The 
answer  is,  faithfulness;  and  when  we  connect  to- 
gether two  passages  of  Holy  Scripture,  we  may 
learn  the  secret  of  abiding  in  Christ. 

"I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my 
heart"  (Psa.  xl.  10). 

"Thy  Word  have  I  hid  in  mine  heart"  (Psa. 
cxix.  11). 

1.     The  Life  Faithful  to  God 

From  the  former  of  these  two  texts  we  must  note 
very  briefly  the  first  secret  of  abiding,  looked  at 


10  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

from  the  outside.  It  is  faithfulness  in  the  outward 
life,  **I  have  not  hid  thy  righteousness  within  my 
heart."  To  use  a  New  Testament  phrase,  this 
means  the  open  confession  of  Christ  as  Lord.  We 
know  that  from  the  moment  of  conversion,  con- 
fession is  our  bounden  duty — it  is  an  absolute 
necessity  to  confess  Christ  as  our  Lord.  Not  only 
should  we  sanctify  Him  as  Lord  in  our  hearts,  but 
confess  Him  as  Lord  by  lip  and  life.  This  is  the 
first  requirement  of  every  true  life — the  confession 
of  God  in  Christ  by  word  and  by  deed.  Very  often 
it  will  mean  a  confession,  literally  by  the  lip,  of 
what  Christ  has  been  to  us,  of  what  God  has  done 
for  our  soul.  But  in  particular,  and  always,  it 
will  be  the  confession  of  Christ  in  our  life,  that 
people  may  be  able  to  see  that  Christianity  does 
really  make  a  difference,  and  that  our  life 
genuinely  belongs  to  God.  "I  have  not  hid  Thy 
righteousness  within  my  heart." 

And  yet  there  will  be  the  constant  temptation  to 
hide  God's  righteousness,  and  to  avoid  the  con- 
fession of  Christ  by  word  and  deed.  This  will,  no 
doubt,  be  due  in  some  cases  to  fear  of  man;  we 
shall  not  have  the  courage  of  our  convictions.  We 
find  it  easy  to  confess  Christ  when  we  are  among 
Christians;   we   may  have   found   it   delightful  to 


The  Life  Faithful  to  God  11 

trust  Him  in  gatherings  of  His  people,  to  send  up 
our  testimony  and  bear  witness  for  Him.  But  it 
is  possible,  not  to  say  probable,  that  we  find  it 
diflScult  to  make  the  same  confession  when  we  are 
in  our  homes,  and  in  our  ordinary  surroundings. 
The  fear  of  man  always  brings  a  snare;  it  brings 
a  snare  to  young  converts,  and  indeed  all  through 
the  Christian  life  to  those  who  are  tempted  to  avoid 
a  confession  of  Christ.  This  is  the  devil's  own 
snare — ^the  trouble  and  difficulty  of  the  spiritual 
duty  of  confession.  And  yet  if  it  is  not  dealt  with 
at  once  there  can  be  nothing  but  spiritual  defeat 
in  our  lives. 

There  is  another  reason,  allied  to  this,  that  some- 
times prevents  us  from  confessing  Christ,  and 
tends  to  keep  His  righteousness  within  our  heart. 
It  is  the  fear  lest  in  our  home  we  should  be  con- 
victed of  inconsistency  between  what  we  say  and 
what  we  are.  How  often  Christian  people  ask 
clergymen,  evangelists  and  other  Christian  workers 
to  speak  to  their  boys  or  girls,  and  when  they  are 
asked  whether  they  have  spoken  themselves,  the 
answer  is,  "No."  It  is  probably  because  they  are 
afraid  that  the  boy  or  girl  has  seen  something  in 
the  life  of  father  or  mother  or  friend  which  has 
not  been  true  to  Christ,  and  this  inconsistency  has 


12  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

been  a  hindrance.  So  there  is  the  temptation, 
through  our  own  inconsistency,  to  hide  God's 
righteousness  in  our  hearts. 

The  secret  of  abiding  is  obedience.  If  we  would 
abide,  we  must  obey;  obey  to  the  full  measure  of 
our  light  whatever  God  Himself  says,  and  in  this 
faithfulness  will  be  the  guarantee  of  a  life  that 
will  go  from  strength  to  strength,  from  glory  to 
glory. 

2.     The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart 

But  the  prime  secret  of  abiding  is  faithfulnefs 
in  the  inner  life.  The  second  text,  "Thy  Word 
have  I  hid  in  mine  heart,"  is  the  cause,  of  which 
the  former  is  the  effect.  It  is  probable  that  some 
reader  has  been  thinking  as  he  reads  of  the  call  to 
faithful  obedience;  "Yes,  but  obedience,  faithful- 
ness, loyalty  to  the  light — these  things  are  difficult, 
almost  insuperably  difficult !"  Difficult,  they  often 
are;  mainly  because  we  do  not  set  about  them  in 
the  right  way.  But  they  are  not  really  difficult, 
certainly  not  insuperable  if  we  imderstand  the 
meaning  of  faithfulness  in  the  inner  life,  which 
comes  from  our  being  devoted  to  the  Word  of  God. 
"Thy  Word  have  I  hid  in  mine  heart."  Let  us 
endeavour  to  find  out  first  what  will  be  the  effect 
of  hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart.     Then  we  will 


The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart  19 

seek  to  learn  definitely  what  it  means  to  hide  God's 
Word  in  our  heart,  and  how  to  do  it. 

The  first  result  of  hiding  God's  Word  in  our 
heart  is  spiritual  peace.  "Great  peace  have  they 
which  love  Thy  law,  and  nothing  shall  cause  them 
to  stumble"  (Psa.  cxix.  166,  Hebrew).  It  is  one 
of  the  most  familiar  facts  of  Christian  experience 
that  our  inner  peace  is  in  exact  proportion  to  our 
meditation  on  God's  Word,  the  hiding  of  God's 
Word  in  our  heart,  and  it  is  natural  that  this 
should  be  so,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  it  is 
through  the  Word  that  we  know  God.  In  pro- 
portion as  we  come  to  know  Him,  we  come  to 
understand  His  will,  and,  with  this,  more  and  more 
of  the  fulness  of  His  revelation  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  outcome  of  this  is  peace.  If,  as  we  look  back 
upon  the  last  year,  we  are  conscious  that  there  has 
been  an  absence,  to  any  extent,  of  this  peace  in  our 
life,  we  may  almost  certainly  put  it  down  to  the 
fact  that  we  have  not  been  too  familiar  with  God 
through  His  Word,  that  we  have  not  been  often 
enough  face  to  face  with  Him  through  His  Word. 
"They  that  know  their  God  shall  be  strong,"  and 
we  can  only  know  God  through  His  Word.  "Faith 
cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of 
God."  And  peace,  too,  cometh  by  hearing,  and 
hearing  by  the  Word  of  God. 


14  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

**So  to  the  heart  that  knows  Thy  love,  O  Purest! 

There  is  a  temple,  sacred  evermore. 
And  all  the  babel  of  life's  angry  voices 

Dies  in  hushed  stillness  at  its  peaceful  door. 

Far,  far  away  the  roar  of  passion  dieth. 
And  loving  thoughts  rise  calm  and  peacefully; 

And  no  rude  storm,  how  fierce  soe'er  it  flieth. 
Disturbs  the  soul  that  dwells,  O  Lord,  in  TheeT 

Hiding  God*s  Word  in  the  heart  is  also  the  secret 
of  prayer.  There  is  a  necessary  and  intimate  con- 
nection between  the  Word  of  God  and  prayer.  In 
the  Bible  God  is  speaking  to  us,  while  prayer  is 
our  speaking  to  God.  In  the  Apostolic  Church 
they  said:  "We  will  give  ourselves  to  the  ministry 
of  the  Word  and  to  prayer.**  In  two  consecutive 
verses  in  Ephesians  vi.  the  Spirit  of  God  is  asso- 
ciated with  the  Word  and  with  prayer.  The  Word 
of  God  is  called  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit/*  and 
then  we  are  told  to  "pray  with  all  prayer  and 
supplication  in  the  Spirit" — the  Spirit  of  God 
through  the  Word;  the  Spirit  of  God  through 
prayer.  George  Miiller  once  asked  the  question 
whether  a  Christian,  in  his  daily  morning  devotions, 
should  commence  with  prayer,  or  with  the  Bible; 
and  he  suggested  that  after  a  brief  prayer  for 
light  and  guidance,  he  should  commence  with  the 
Bible,  and  not  with  prayer.  This  is  a  useful  bit 
of  advice  from  a  master  in  the  spiritual  life,  for 


The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart  15 

the  simple  reason  that  God's  Word  is  the  fuel  of 
our  prayer.  As  we  open  the  page  in  the  morning, 
the  promises  prompt  us  to  prayer,  the  examples 
incite  us  to  prayer,  the  warnings  urge  us  to 
prayer,  the  hopes  of  glory  stir  us  to  prayer — 
everything  in  the  portion  taken  for  our  meditation 
can  be  turned  into  prayer.  Let  us  try  it,  if  we 
have  never  done  so;  let  us  start  with  the  Word, 
and  then  turn  to  prayer.  And  I  suggest  that  at 
night  we  reverse  the  process,  start  with  prayer, 
and  finish  the  day  as  we  began,  with  the  Word 
of  God.  Depend  upon  it,  hiding  God's  Word 
in  the  heart  is  the  secret  of  prayer,  and  the  reason 
why  our  prayer-life  is  so  weak  and  barren  is  that 
we  do  not  know  God  through  His  Word.  We  do 
not  lay  hold  of  Him  through  this  means.  The 
Word  is  unfamiliar,  and  God  is  therefore  afar  off, 
and  for  this  one  reason  our  prayer  is  weak  and 
unavailing.  But  the  man  who  knows  God  through 
His  Word  becomes  mighty  in  prayer  every  day. 

Hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart  is  always  the 
secret  of  purity.  "Now  ye  are  clean  through  the 
Word."  In  proportion  as  we  come  face  to  face 
with  this  Word  will  our  inner  and  outer  life  be 
pure.  There  is  nothing  to  compare  with  Scripture 
to  purify  motives.  We  may  seem  to  have  very 
beautiful  motives  when  we  are  going  about  during 
the  day;  but  when  we  get  on  our  knees  with  the 


16  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

Bible  we  are  searched,  and  everything  doubtful 
has  to  go.  **I£  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the 
Lord  will  not  hear  me."  There  is  nothing  like  the 
Word  of  God  for  purifying  the  thoughts,  the 
motives,  the  desires.  The  whole  of  the  inner  life 
of  the  believer  becomes,  and  is  kept  pure,  just  in 
proportion  as  God's  Word  is  hidden  in  our  hearts. 
There  is  an  incident  which  illustrates  this  truth 
in  one  of  those  inimitable  sermons  to  children  by 
Dr.  Richard  Newton.  It  is  the  story  of  an  old 
woman  who  had  in  her  hand  what  seemed  like  a 
square  sieve,  with  something  in  it,  and  she  was 
holding  the  sieve  in  a  stream,  and  allowing  the 
water  to  pass  through  it.  As  she  did  this,  a  clergy- 
man came  along,  and  stopped  to  see  what  the  old 
woman  was  doing.  She  turned  round  and  looked 
at  him,  and  the  moment  she  saw  him  she  said: 
"Oh,  sir,  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you."  He  replied: 
"I  do  not  know  how  you  can  be;  I  am  a  stranger 
in  these  parts,  and  I  was  not  aware  that  I  was 
known."  "Well,"  said  she,  "I  heard  you  preach 
a  sermon  many  years  ago  which  was  blessed  to  my 
soul,  and  I  have  been  a  different  woman  ever 
since."  "I  am  thankful  to  hear  it,"  replied  he, 
"what  was  the  text.^"  "I  don't  remember  the 
text,"  she  added.  "But,"  said  he,  "it  is  very 
curious  that  a  sermon  should  have  been  blessed  to 


The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart  17 

your  soul,  and  yet  that  you  cannot  remember  the 
text."  *'Well,"  she  replied,  "you  see,  I  have  got 
some  wool  in  this  sieve,  and  my  mind  is  very  much 
like  the  sieve,  which  is  full  of  holes.  The  water 
nms  through  the  sieve,  but  as  it  runs  through  it 
cleanses  the  wool.  Now  that  text  of  God's  Word 
went  through  my  mind,  and  though  it  did  not  stop 
there  long  enough  for  me  to  remember  it,  yet  as 
it  went  through  it  cleansed  me,  and  I  have  been  a 
different  woman  ever  since." 

We  cannot  remember  the  fifty-two  or  the  one 
hundred  and  four  sermons  we  hear  every  year,  but 
each  time  we  hear  the  Word,  it  can  go  into  and 
through  our  soul  and  cleanse  it.  Though  we  may 
not  remember  this  or  that  sermon,  yet  if  the  sermon 
is  based  on  the  Word  of  God,  it  will  have  done 
its  work  in  cleansing  and  purifying  heart  and  soul. 
And  so  also,  in  our  private  devotions,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  keep  in  memory  everything  that  God  tells 
us  from  day  to  day;  but  each  message  as  it  comes 
does  its  work,  and  every  day  we  need  further 
cleansing.  Hiding  God's  Word  in  the  heart  is  the 
secret  of  purity. 

It  is  also  the  secret  of  power.  The  Word  of 
God  is  the  prime  secret  of  power  in  the  Christian 
life — -power  to  resist  temptation,  power  to  over- 
come sin,  power  to  do  God's  work  whatever  it  may 
be,  power  proportioned  to  the  work  we  have  to  do. 


18  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

And  that  grace  of  God  which  comes  through  hiding 
His  Word  in  our  hearts  is  always  sufficient  for  all 
things,  that  we  may  abound  unto  every  good  work. 
The  reason  of  our  powerlessness  in  Christian  serv- 
ice, against  temptation,  in  the  midst  of  evil,  and  in 
the  face  of  all  the  problems  of  to-day,  is,  that  we 
are  not  enough  alone  with  God  through  His  Word. 
Hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart  is  the  secret  of 
spiritual  perception.  The  man  who  knows  God 
through  His  Word  sees  and  understands  God's  will 
as  no  one  else  does.  It  seems  to  be  a  mark  of  a 
growing,  maturing  Christian  that  he  is  able  to 
understand.  The  last  Epistle  of  St.  Peter  lays 
great  stress  on  "knowledge";  the  first  Epistle  of 
St.  John  has  as  its  keynote  the  word  know.  There 
are  three  grades  or  stages  of  the  Christian  life  in 
that  Epistle:  "I  write  unto  you,  little  children, 
because  your  sins  are  forgiven.  I  write  unto  you, 
young  men,  because  you  are  strong.  I  write  unto 
you,  fathers,  because  you  know."  But  when  the 
Apostle  repeats  these  appeals  he  adds  something 
different  about  the  children,  and  about  the  young 
men,  but  nothing  about  the  fathers.  He  just  re- 
peats exactly  what  he  had  said  about  them,  because 
there  is  nothing  else  to  say.  "I  write  unto  you, 
fathers,  because  ye  have  known  Him  that  is  from 
the  beginning."  If  we  read  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul  to  the  Ephesians,  the  Philippians,  and  the 


The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart  19 

Colossians,  and  note  down  the  various  references 
to  knowledge,  we  shall  find  that  full  or  mature 
knowledge  is  the  keynote  of  those  writings;  as 
though  St.  Paul  would  suggest  to  us  that  knowl- 
edge, spiritual  understanding,  perception,  is  the 
mark  of  a  ripening  and  growing  Christian.  This 
perception  can  only  come  from  abiding  closely  with 
God  in  His  Word,  and  hiding  that  Word  in  our 
heart.  The  man  who  gives  himself  to  daily  thought 
and  prayerful  meditation  on  God's  Word  possesses 
a  degree  of  spiritual  perception  out  of  all  propor- 
tion to  his  intellectual  capacity  or  attainment, 
judged  from  the  standpoint  of  things  natural.  Dr. 
James  Hamilton  says  in  one  of  his  sermons  that 
"a  Christian  on  his  knees  sees  farther  than  a 
philosopher  on  his  tip-toes."  The  prayerful 
Christian,  however  illiterate  he  may  be,  according 
to  the  world's  idea,  can  often  teach  the  educated 
man  profound  lessons. 

And  this  has  a  very  definite  application  to  cer- 
tain modern  tendencies.  If  people  kept  more 
closely  than  they  do  to  the  Word  of  God,  they 
would  not  be  in  danger  of  going  aside  to  any  of 
the  various  theories  and  *'isms**  of  the  present  day. 
Thus,  if  a  man  abides  in  God's  Word  in  daily 
prayerful  meditation,  he  will  never  be  deceived  by 
Christian  Science,  which,  as  we  know,  is  neither 
Christian  nor  scientific.     In  the  same  way  the  man 


so  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

who  keeps  close  to  God's  Word  will  never  be 
deceived  by  the  speciousness  of  Spiritualism.  So 
it  is  also  with  other  aspects  of  error  which  we 
rightly  regard  as  dangerous.  In  every  case  where 
a  man  who  was  once  a  professing  Christian,  and  a 
Christian  worker,  has  taken  up  Christian  Science 
— if  we  found  out  everything  that  could  be  found 
out  about  him,  we  should  discover  that  his  change 
of  opinion  was  due  to  his  neglect  of  this  Book. 
So  for  the  power  of  spiritual  perception  let  us 
keep  close  to  the  Scriptures,  and  then  we  shall  not 
go  wrong. 

Hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart  is  the  secret  of 
spiritual  progress.  "If  ye  continue  in  My  Word, 
then  are  ye  My  disciples  indeed."  The  man  who 
grows  in  grace  is  the  man  who  grows  in  knowledge, 
and  the  man  who  grows  in  knowledge  is  the  man 
who  keeps  close  to  God  through  His  Word.  For 
spiritual  progress  this  is  the  secret:  **Thy  Word 
have  I  hid  in  mine  heart.**  Whenever  a  Christian 
is  growing  in  grace,  experiencing  more  joy  in 
Christ,  more  rest  of  soul,  more  peaoe  of  heart, 
more  knowledge  of  truth,  more  blessing  in  service, 
more  hope  in  trial,  more  endurance  in  suffering, 
the  explanation  is  as  clear  as  it  is  simple.  He  is 
spending  more  time  with  his  Bible.  There  is  no 
need  for  spiritual  declension,  no  necessity  for  back- 


The  Word  Hidden  in  the  Heart  21 

sliding^  no  warrant  for  anything  but  ever- joyous 
progress  as  we  go  from  strength  to  strength 
through  the  year.  But  this  will  only  be  through 
hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart. 

Hiding  of  God's  Word  in  our  heart  is  the  secret 
of  spiritual  permanence.  Daniel  was  taken  as  a 
boy  of  fourteen  years  old  to  Babylon,  and  he  lived 
there  until  he  was  ninety-one;  apparently  he  never 
went  home  to  Jerusalem,  but  was  in  Babylon  all 
those  years,  and  we  are  told  that  Daniel  continued. 
This  may  well  be  applied  to  moral  and  spiritual 
continuance,  for  we  know  how  true  this  was  of  him. 
In  the  same  way  we  may  say  that  there  is  a 
Daniel  in  the  New  Testament,  St.  Paul.  "Having 
therefore  obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this 
day."  Our  Lord  said,  '^Continue  ye  in  My  love." 
"If  ye  continue  in  My  Word.*'  The  secret  of  con- 
tinuance and  permanence  in  the  Christian  life  is 
hiding  God's  Word  in  our  heart. 

Let  us  then  take  this  Word  for  our  daily  medi- 
tation, and  we  shall  soon  see  in  it  the  secret  of 
everything  in  the  Christian  life. 

"And  the  daily  load  grows  lighter. 

The  daily  cares  grow  sweet. 
For  the  Master  is  near,  the  Master  m  here, 

I  have  only  to  sit  at  His  feet." 


22  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

3.     The  Methods  of  Meditation 

Now  comes  the  question.  How  is  this  to  be  done? 
Let  me  in  the  very  simplest  and  most  old-fashioned 
way  try  to  show  how  this  may  be. 

Our  hiding  of  God's  Word  must  be  a  daily  prac- 
tice. At  the  time  of  my  ordination  in  1885,  we 
were  being  addressed  by  Dr.  Hessey,  then  Arch- 
deacon of  Middlesex,  and  he  said  to  us:  "What- 
ever is  true  of  you  and  your  ministry,  you  ought  to 
know  your  Greek  Testament,  and  if  you  will  read, 
in  the  original,  the  second  lesson  selected  for  that 
purpose  in  the  Church  of  England  service,  you  will 
find  that  it  will  cover  almost  the  whole  of  the 
New  Testament  in  a  year,  and  so  every  year  of 
your  ministry  you  will  be  able  to  read  through 
your  Greek  Testament."  Some  of  us  took  that 
simple  and,  as  it  seemed,  very  obvious  hint,  and 
no  one  can  tell  the  joy  and  blessing  it  has  been 
to  use  the  lesson  as  a  daily  portion  for  morning 
meditation.  If  we  do  not  meditate  upon  God's 
Word  daily  we  shall  suffer  in  our  spiritual  life. 
In  proportion  as  we  neglect  it  there  will  be  weak- 
ness in  our  souls.  Whether  in  the  Greek  Testa- 
ment or  not,  there  should  be  systematic  daily  medi- 
tation. Some  of  us  may  belong  to  the  Bible  Prayer 
Union,  the  members  of  which  read  right  through 
the  Bible  in  three  and  one-quarter  years.     Many 


The  Methods  of  Meditation  23 

follow  that  course,  and  find  it  a  great  delight. 
Others  prefer  the  Scripture  Union,  while  still 
others  have  their  own  methods.  But  whatever 
method  it  may  be,  it  ought  to  be  used  systematically 
and  daily. 

Our  use  of  God's  Word  should  be  direct;  and  by 
direct  use  I  mean  first-hand  meditation.  Thank 
God  for  all  helps!  But  let  us  remember  that  the 
greatest  of  all  helps  is  a  first-hand  study  of,  and 
meditation  on,  the  Word  itself,  as  we  now  have  it, 
and  not  as  other  people  have  provided  it  for  us 
in  Daily  Light,  or  in  any  other  way.  Whatever 
we  do  in  regard  to  helps,  they  must  be  secondary, 
and  not  primary.  It  has  often  been  curious  to  me 
to  note  how  many  people  there  are  with  names 
commencing  with  *'M,"  who  have  given  us  delight- 
ful books  of  meditation — Moule,  Macgregor,  Mor- 
gan, Mantle,  Murray,  Moore,  Meyer.  Their  books 
have  been  a  blessing  to  very  many.  But  I  know 
another  *'M"  which  is  far  more  important  and 
therefore  better  than  all  these.  It  is  found  in  the 
104th  Psalm — "My  meditation  of  Him  shall  be 
sweet"  (see  verse  34).  This  is  the  meditation 
that  must  ever  come  first,  my  own,  what  I  get 
direct  from  God.  Let  us  look  again  at  this  text, 
made  as  clear  as  possible  for  our  guidance.  "MY 
meditation" — my  own,  not  someone  else's.  Shall 
we  then  despise  the  others?     God  forbid!     We 


84  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

shall  appropriate  and  enjoy  all  they  can  teach  us, 
but  it  will  be  because  we  have  come  face  to  face 
with  God  ourselves,  first  of  all. 

For  our  devotional  reading  and  meditation  we 
should  use  unmarked  Bibles.  I  know  it  is  custom- 
ary to  have  marked  Bibles,  full  of  suggestions,  so 
that  the  moment  we  open  a  page  we  are  directed 
to  certain  passages  and  lines  of  thought.  But  in 
meditating  upon  these  we  are  almost  inevitably 
feeding  upon  the  old  manna,  and  unless  our  mind 
is  particularly  independent,  we  shall  pretty  cer- 
tainly get  the  same  food  again  and  again.  What 
we  need  is  to  be  able  to  open  to  a  passage  like 
the  23rd  Psalm,  and  get  from  it  something  abso- 
lutely fresh.  For  this  purpose  we  must  have  an 
unmarked  Bible,  and  then  afterwards  we  can  put 
into  our  marked  Bible  all  the  discoveries  or  "finds" 
we  have  made  during  meditation.  So  for  devo- 
tional purposes  let  our  Bible  be  unmarked. 

In  this  connection,  is  it  not  true  that  the  greatest 
danger  in  the  life  of  a  minister  or  other  Christian 
worker  is  that  of  reading  the  Bible  for  other  peo- 
ple? When  we  open  our  Bible  and  God  shows  us 
something,  we  say:  "That  will  do  for  my  sermon 
next  Sunday,  or  for  my  Bible  class."  But  for  the 
time  being,  never  mind  sermon  or  Bible  class;  let 
us  ask  ourselves:  "What  does  this  portion  say 
to  mef" 


The  Methods  of  Meditation  25 

Our  reading  of  God's  Word  must  be  definite. 
"What  does  it  say  to  me?**  This  is  the  difference 
between  study  and  meditation.  A  good  definition 
of  meditation  is  "attention  with  intention."  Study 
is  attention,  but  meditation  is  attention  and  also 
intention.  What  are  the  stages  or  elements  of  true 
meditation.^     They  are  five  in  number: — 

1.  The  careful  reading  of  the  particular  pas- 
sage or  subject,  thinking  over  its  real  and  original 
meaning. 

2.  A  resolute  application  of  it  to  my  own  life's 
needs,  to  conscience,  heart,  mind,  imagination,  will ; 
finding  out  what  it  has  to  say  to  me. 

3.  A  hearty  turning  of  it  into  prayer  for  mercy 
and  grace,  that  its  teaching  may  become  part  of 
my  life. 

4.  A  sincere  transfusion  of  it  into  a  resolution 
that  my  life  shall  reproduce  it. 

6.  A  whole-hearted  surrender  to,  and  trust  in 
God  for  power  to  practise  it  forthwith,  and  con- 
stantly throughout  the  day. 

Meditation  is,  thus,  first  of  all,  thought;  then  it 
means  application  to  myself;  then  prayer  for 
grace;  then  the  yielding  of  the  heart  to  God;  and 
then  rising  up  to  obey  Him.  This  is  the  real  mean- 
ing and  purpose  of  definite  hiding  of  God's  Word 
in  our  heart.  This  is  what  it  meant  to  Daniel. 
When  he  had  had  the  Divine  vision  (in  chap,  viii.) 


26  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

he  said:  "Afterward  I  rose  up,  and  did  the 
king's  business."  After  the  vision  of  God  in  His 
Word,  we  have  to  rise  up  and  do  the  King's  busi- 
ness. This  is  what  is  meant  by  hiding  God's 
Word  in  our  heart;  it  must  be  daily,  direct,  and 
definite. 

As  a  practical  outcome  let  the  following  sug- 
gestions be  offered  for  the  devotional  use  of  the 
Bible:— 

1.  Open  all  such  occasions  with  prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit's  light  (Psa.  cxix.  18). 

2.  Ask  to  be  guided  to  some  definite  thought 
for  yourself. 

3.  Dwell  prayerfully  on  this  thought  thus  given 
— Is  it  a  counsel?  A  precept?  A  warning?  A 
promise?    An  experience?    A  command? 

4.  When  its  meaning  is  clear,  use  it  as  the  basis 
of  a  prayer  for  grace  to  realise  it  in  experience. 

5.  Yield  the  whole  soul  in  full  surrender  to  its 
truth  and  power. 

6.  Link  it  on  to  truths  already  known,  and 
thereby  strengthen  the  chain  of  experience. 

7.  Trust  God  to  reproduce  it  in  your  life  that 
day. 

Nothing  in  this  world  can  ever  be  substituted 
for  daily,  direct,  definite  hiding  of  God's  Word  in 
our  heart.     We  cannot  make  up  for  failure  in  our 


The  Methods  op  Meditation  27 

devotional  life  by  redoubled  energy  in  service  for 
Christ.  Our  work  will  never  rise  higher  than  our 
devotional  life.  As  water  never  rises  above  its 
level,  so  what  we  do  never  rises  above  what  we  are. 
And  in  our  preaching  we  shall  never  take  people 
one  hair's  breadth  beyond  our  own  spiritual  attain- 
ment. We  may  point  to  higher  things,  we  may 
"allure  to  brighter  worlds,*'  but  when  we  "lead  the 
way"  we  shall  only  take  them  just  as  far  as  we 
ourselves  have  gone.  Our  personal  contact  with 
the  Word  of  God  will  thus  be  an  exact  test  of  our 
discipleship  and  our  character.  Christianity  is 
largely  a  matter  of  condition  of  soul ;  stress  is  laid 
on  character  and  character  is  power.  But  charac- 
ter requires  solitude  for  growth;  solitude  is  "the 
mother-country  of  the  strong."  And  yet  solitude 
without  the  Bible  tends  to  develop  morbidity,  while 
with  the  Bible  it  guarantees  vitality  and  power. 
So  let  us  remember  that  all  the  activity  in  the 
world,  all  the  reading  of  other  books,  all  our  pub- 
lic worship  can  never  take  the  place  of  this  daily, 
definite,  direct  hiding  of  God's  Word  in  our  heart. 
Granted  this,  failure  in  the  Christian  life  is 
absolutely  impossible.  The  Word  in  the  heart  is 
the  secret  of  everything.  If  a  man  will  spend  a 
little  time  with  God  every  day  of  his  life,  he  will 
go  on  from  strength  to  strength;  his  knowledge, 
his  capacity,  and  power  for  good  will  ever  increase 


28  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

and  deepen,  and  his  life  will  be  one  of  widening 
blessing  to  others  and  of  glory  to  God. 

In  the  course  of  a  Bible  reading  some  years  ago, 
I  ventured  to  make  this  assertion:  I  said  that  if 
there  were  five  hundred  people  outside  that  church, 
and  each  one  of  them  was  a  backslider,  I  would 
undertake  to  say,  although  they  were  all  strangers 
to  me,  that  every  one  had  become  a  backslider 
through  neglect  of  the  Bible.  After  the  meeting 
was  over  a  lady  said  to  me:  "I  cannot  understand 
how  it  is  that  every  one  of  the  five  hundred  should 
have  become  a  backslider  through  neglect  of  the 
Bible."  "Well,  now,"  said  I,  "let  us  see.  Have 
you  got  a  looking-glass  in  your  bedroom.''**  She 
answered,  "Yes."  "Do  you  use  it?'*  I  asked. 
"Yes,"  she  replied.  "Suppose,*'  I  went  on,  "you 
did  not  use  it  for  a  week,  would  you  be  quite  sure 
that  your  personal  appearance  would  be  such  as 
you  would  like  your  friends  to  see?**  "No,"  said 
she.  "Now,  in  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,**  I  re- 
marked, "the  Bible  is  spoken  of  as  a  mirror  in 
which  we  see  ourselves ;  and  if  we  do  not  open  that 
Book  we  cannot  be  sure  of  our  spiritual  appear- 
ance. *In  Thy  light  shall  we  see  light.*  **  Then 
I  said:  "You  have  soap  and  water  in  your  bed- 
room?** She  began  to  smile,  and  said,  "Yes." 
"Do  you  use  it?"  I  asked.  She  smiled  a  little 
more,  and  I  added:     "Suppose  you  did  not  use  it 


The  Methods  of  Meditation  29 

for  a  week,  would  you  be  quite  sure  of  your  per- 
sonal appearance,  especially  if  you  lived  in  Lon- 
don?" "No,"  she  said.  "Now,"  I  pointed  out,  "in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  the  Word  is  called 
'water';  'The  washing  of  water  by  the  Word.'  As 
water  is  to  the  body,  so  is  the  Word  of  God  to  the 
soul.  It  cleanses.  If  we  do  not  practise  cleansing 
we  cannot  be  clean."  Then  I  added,  "When  you 
go  downstairs  I  take  it  that  you  have  your  break- 
fast .'*"  She  said,  "Yes."  "Now  suppose,"  said  I, 
"you  did  not  eat  your  breakfast,  and  went  with- 
out food  for  a  few  days,  you  know  what  the  result 
would  be.  The  reason  why  people  are  ill  in  body 
is  because  they  are  'below  par,'  and  they  thereby 
become  a  prey  to  the  microbes  that  come  in  their 
millions.  If  people  are  strong  and  vigorous,  they 
may  consume  microbes  by  the  thousand  and  suffer 
no  harm.  But  if  we  are  below  our  normal  state  of 
health,  and  the  microbes  enter  and  find  something 
to  attach  themselves  to  in  our  body,  the  result  is 
illness  and  disease.  So  it  is  in  the  spiritual  life. 
God's  Word  is  spoken  of  as  food,  milk  and  honey 
—food  to  eat,  milk  to  drink,  and  honey  for 
"dessert."  There  is  an  entire  meal  in  God's  Word. 
If  we  eat  God's  Word  we  are  strong,  but  if  we  do 
not,  we  become  a  prey  to  the  microbes  of  tempta- 
tion; they  find  us  below  spiritual  'par,*  and  the 
result  is,  we  fail  and  become  ill  and  diseased.    But 


30  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

when  we  can  say,  with  Jeremiah,  *Thy  words  were 
found,  and  I  did  eat  them,  and  Thy  Word  was 
unto  me  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  mine  heart,* 
when  we  use  the  water  and  the  food  and  the  mirror 
found  in  God's  Word,  there  can  be  no  backsliding." 
She  said,  *'I  see  it  now!" 

As  long  as  we  keep  the  mirror  before  us  in 
which  we  see  ourselves,  at  the  same  time  "behold- 
ing as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the  Lord,"  we  become 
transformed.  As  long  as  we  use  the  water  of 
God's  Word  for  the  cleansing  of  our  inner  life, 
and  the  milk  and  honey  of  God's  Word  as  the  food 
of  our  souls,  it  will  be  absolutely  impossible  for  us 
to  backslide,  while  it  will  be  blessedly  possible  for 
us  to  go  on  from  grace  to  grace,  and  from  strength 
to  strength;  and  it  shall  be  true  of  us  as  of  the 
Psalmist:  "The  law  of  his  God  is  in  his  heart; 
none  of  his  steps  shall  slide."  The  law  of  God  in 
the  heart  makes  us  as  "the  righteous  man"  who 
"shall  hold  on  his  way;  and  he  that  hath  clean 
hands  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger." 

All  that  has  been  said  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
words  of  Job:  "I  have  esteemed  the  words  of  His 
mouth  more  than  my  necessary  food" ;  and  of  Jere- 
miah: "Thy  words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat 
them";  and  of  the  Psalmist:  "How  sweet  are  Thy 
words  to  my  taste !"  The  Bible  must  be  our  daily 
food  if  we  are  to  be  strong  and  vigorous.     Not 


The  Methods  of  Meditation  81 

quantity,  but  quality,  determines  the  nutritive  value 
of  food.  What  we  must  emphasize  is  capacity  to 
receive,  power  to  assimilate,  and  readiness  to  re- 
produce. As  someone  has  well  put  it,  the  process 
is  three-fold — infusion,  suffusion,  transfusion. 

The  Word  thus  becomes  all-sufficient  and  all- 
powerful  in  our  life — the  mirror  to  reveal  (James 
i.) ;  the  water  to  cleanse  (Eph.  v.) ;  the  milk  to 
nourish  (1  Peter  ii.)  ;  the  strong  meat  to  invigorate 
(Heb.  V.)  ;  the  honey  to  delight  (Psa.  cxix.) ;  the 
fire  to  warm  (Jer.  xxiii.)  ;  the  hammer  to  break  and 
fasten  (Jer.  xxiii.)  the  sword  to  fight  (Eph.  vi.) ; 
the  seed  to  grow  (Matt,  xiii.) ;  the  lamp  to  guide 
(Psa.  cxix.) ;  the  statute  book  to  legislate  (Psa. 
cxix.) ;  and  the  gold  to  treasure  in  time  and  for 
eternity  (Psa.  xix). 

Three  or  four  paragraphs  of  the  above  have  been 
taken  from  the  author's  Methods  of  Bible  Study. 


CHAPTER  II 

•THE  CHRISTIAN'S  VITAL  BREATH" 

THE  Christian  religion  rests  upon  two  great 
facts.  The  first  is,  that  God  has  spoken  to 
man  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  still  speaks  by 
thfe  Holy  Spirit.  The  second  is,  that  man  can  hear 
God's  voice  and  speak  to  Him  in  return.  Divine 
Revelation  and  Human  Response  to  it  are  thus  the 
two  foundations  of  all  true  life.  The  voice  of 
God  to  man  is  heard  in  the  Word  of  God  applied 
by  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  voice  of  man  to  God  is 
mainly  expressed  in  prayer. 

We  have  already  considered  the  former  of  these 
two  subjects,  the  Revelation  of  God  in  His  Word 
in  its  relation  to  the  Christian  life.  To  the  latter 
we  now  turn  our  attention  in  order  to  discover 
some  of  the  secrets  of  that  most  wonderful  of  all 
human  powers,  the  ability  to  speak  to  the  "Lord 
who  made  heaven  and  earth." 

Prayer  has  always  been  prominent  in  the  lives 
of  the  people  of  God.  Whether  we  study  the  lives 
of  the  men  of  God  recorded  in  the  Bible,  and  look 
at  the  history  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Moses, 
Joshua,  Samuel,  David,  Hezekiah,  Isaiah,  Ezekiel, 
Daniel,  Peter,  Paul,  and  John ;  or  whether  we  take 

32 


Aspects  of  Prayer  33 

up  some  of  the  great  biographies  of  the  Christian 
centuries,  and  read  of  Augustine,  Luther,  Ruther- 
ford, Brainerd,  McCheyne,  and  a  host  of  others, 
we  can  easily  see  the  prominence  of  prayer  in  every 
instance,  and  this  prominence  is  a  sure  sign  of  its 
necessity,  importance,  and  blessedness.  Above  and 
beyond  all  other  proofs  is  the  example  of  our  Lord, 
true  "Son  of  Man,"  whose  life  on  earth  was  a  life 
of  prayer.  In  the  second  Gospel,  which,  as  is  well 
known,  is  pre-eminently  the  record  of  His  constant 
service  and  marvelous  activity,  there  are  no  less 
than  ten  occasions  recorded  of  His  retirement  for 
prayer  and  communion  with  God. 

In  view  of  the  paramount  importance  of  prayer 
let  us  consider  some  of  the  inexhaustible  wealth  of 
New  Testament  teaching  connected  with  it,  giving 
ourselves  mainly  to  the  study  of  the  various  words 
and  phrases  associated  with  prayer  in  the  Word 
of  God. 

1.     Aspects  of  Prayer 

Prayer  is  a  sense  of  need  (Sciycres  and  Sco/uu  and 
their  cognates).  The  substantive  8ci;o-is  occurs 
nineteen  times  and  the  verb  Btofjuu  twenty-three 
times.  The  former  is  translated  in  Ephesians  vi. 
18  by  "supplication,"  and  the  meaning  there,  as 
elsewhere,  is  the  acknowledgment  of  a  sense  of 


84  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

need.  This  is,  perhaps,  the  most  elementary  idea 
of  prayer,  and  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  ask  our- 
selves whether  we  realise  our  need  when  we  pray. 
Is  it  a  fact  that  when  we  come  before  God  in 
prayer  we  have  a  definite  and  real  consciousness 
of  need  ?  Is  there  a  vacuum  in  our  spiritual  life, 
so  that  we  feel  we  must  be  filled  with  the  presence 
and  grace  of  God?  It  is  well  for  us  to  test  our- 
selves after  a  season  of  prayer,  and  to  ask  our- 
selves. What  have  I  been  asking  for?  Do  I  re- 
member the  petitions  I  have  offered,  and  have  they 
really  been  the  expression  of  my  sense  of  genuine 
need?  Even  the  most  mature  believer  may  well 
go  back  from  time  to  time  to  this  simple  and 
elementary  touchstone  of  the  reality  of  his  prayers. 
Prayer  is  an  expression  of  desire  (aircw^  airrjiM), 
The  Greek  words  are  found  altogether  in  some 
seventy-four  passages.  *Xet  your  requests  (alTT^fmra) 
be  made  known  unto  God"  (Phil.  iv.  6)  is  one  of 
these,  and  "Ask  (alTCLTc)^  and  it  shall  be  given  you" 
(Matt.  vii.  7)  is  another. 

"Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire." 

The  thought  here  is  associated  with  the  attitude 
of  a  petitioner,  one  who  has  a  deep  desire,  and 
expresses  it  in  prayer.  Does  this  accord  with  our 
experience  of  prayer? 


Aspects  of  Prayer  35 

"What  things  soever  ye  desire'*  (Mark  xi.  24). 
Do  our  prayers  truly  voice  our  strongly  felt  desire  ? 
If  so,  we  know  a  little  of  what  prayer  means, 
but  if  there  is  no  real  desire  our  words  count  for 
nothing. 

Prayer  is  a  spirit  of  humility.  This  aspect  of 
prayer  comes  before  us  in  one  passage  only  (Heb. 
V.  7)  where  the  word  iKer-qpuL  refers  to  our  Lord's 
prayer  in  Gethsemane,  and  is  translated  in  our 
Authorised  Version  "supplications."  "Who  in  the 
days  of  His  flesh,  when  He  had  offered  up  prayers 
and  supplications  with  strong  crying  and.  tears 
unto  Him  that  was  able  to  save  Him  from  death, 
and  was  heard  in  that  He  feared."  The  picturesque 
and  beautiful  thought  imbedded  in  the  word  is 
suggested  by  the  fact  that  it  was  originally  used 
for  the  olive  branch  which  a  suppliant  had  in  his 
hands  as  he  came  towards  a  king  from  whom  he 
desired  some  favour.  He  thus  grounded  his  appli- 
cation on  his  attitude  as  a  suppliant,  on  his 
humility.  From  the  application  of  the  word  to  the 
olive  branch  came  its  use  to  express  the  thing 
signified  by  the  olive  branch,  the  spirit  and  atti- 
tude of  a  suppliant.  How  beautiful  is  the  word 
in  connection  with  our  Lord's  earthly  life  of  prayer 
as  an  indication  of  His  true  and  perfect  manhood. 
The  word  sums  up  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle  to 


86  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

the  Hebrews  as  to  the  perfect  oneness  of  our  Lord 
with  us  in  His  humanity  (apart  from  sin).  "He 
was  made  like  unto  His  brethren  in  all  things" 
(Heb.  ii.  17  and  iv.  15).  In  Him,  and  like  Him, 
we  too  come  before  God  as  suppliants.  We  ap- 
proach the  King  of  kings  (Who  is  none  the  less 
King  of  kings  because  He  is  our  Father  in  Christ 
Jesus)  in  the  merits  of  our  Lord,  with  the  olive 
branch  of  peace  made  through  the  blood  of  His 
Cross.  Is  this  the  spirit  of  our  prayers.''  It  is 
possible  to  abuse  the  covenant  of  grace  and  to  be- 
come unduly  familiar  with  God  and  holy  things. 
While  it  is  true  that  we  have  entrance  to  the 
presence  of  God  in  Christ,  it  is  "entrance  into  the 
holiest/'  "Holy  and  reverend  is  His  Name." 
There  is  far  too  little  of  the  spirit  of  humility  and 
reverence  in  our  prayers.  We  must  take  the  shoes 
from  off  our  feet,  for  the  place  whereon  we  stand 
is  indeed  holy  ground. 

"Prayer  is  an  attitude  of  consecration.  In  no 
less  than  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  passages 
of  the  New  Testament  we  find  the  words  ■npovevxq 
and  vpo(T€vxo/jLaL  used  to  express  the  idea  of  prayer. 
It  is  by  far  the  commonest  word  denoting  prayer 
to  God,  and  its  root  idea  is  consecration.  It  is 
compounded  of  tv^i},  "a  vow"  and  t/oos,  "turning 
towards";  and  means  the  turning  of  ourselves  to 
God  in  surrender.     It  is  an  attitude  of  worship  ex- 


Aspects  of  Prayer  87 

pressed  in  prayer.  It  will  suffice  to  refer  to  Acts 
i.  14  and  x.  9  as  two  out  of  the  many  passages. 
When  we  remember  the  large  number  of  occur- 
rences of  these  words  we  can  readily  see  what  is  the 
normal  attitude  of  the  believer  in  prayer.  It  is  the 
attitude  of  a  worshipper,  of  one  who  is  turned 
towards  God  with  all  his  heart  and  soul.  This  is 
one  of  the  essential  secrets  of  prayer,  the  soul's 
whole-hearted  surrender  and  consecration.  David 
said,  "If  I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord 
will  not  hear  me"  (Psa.  Ixvi.  18)  ;  and  if  the  soul 
is  unwilling  to  surrender  all  to  God  and  to  turn 
to  Him  in  whole-hearted  devotion,  our  prayers  will 
never  receive  an  answer.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
we  turn  to  God  in  submission  and  dedication,  the 
initial  act  becoming  a  permanent  attitude  of  the 
life,  our  prayers  prevail,  and  "we  have  the  petitions 
that  we  desired  of  Him,"  (1  John  v.  15). 

Prayer  is  a  privilege  of  fellowship.  This  thought 
is  suggested  by  the  rare  word  cvtcv^is,  which  occurs 
only  twice  in  the  New  Testament  (1  Tim.  ii.  i.; 
iv.  5),  being  rendered  "intercession"  in  the  former, 
and  "prayer"  in  the  latter  passage.  The  verb 
associated  with  this  substantive  (ivTvyxoLvto)  is  found 
in  Romans  viii.  27,  34;  xi.  2;  Hebrews  vii.  26,  and 
is  invariably  rendered  by  "intercede"  or  "make 
intercession."  It  is  necessary  to  remember  that 
in  the  course  of  time,  since  our  Authorised  Version 


38  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

was  given  to  us,  the  meaning  of  the  word  "inter- 
cession" has  become  modified.  We  are  now  accus- 
tomed to  limit  the  word  to  prayer  for  others,  but 
there  was  no  such  limit  three  hundred  years  ago. 
In  1  Timothy  iv.  5,  the  Greek  word  cannot  mean 
prayer  for  others  only,  and  is  probably  to  be 
limited  to  prayer  for  one's  self. 

The  original  word*  implies  the  meeting  of  two 
friends  who  talk  together  and  ask  each  other  for 
something,  thus  realising  and  expressing  their  fel- 
lowship. The  word  suggests  the  thought  of  prayer 
as  familiar  speech,  as  to  the  privilege  of  close 
friendship  and  intimate  fellowship.  This  is  one 
of  the  deepest  and  most  precious  aspects  of  prayer. 

"Truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father,  and 
with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ"  (1  John  i.  3).  It  was 
this  fellowship  and  holy  familiarity  of  friendship 
that  Enoch  and  Noah  enjoyed  as  they  "walked 
with  God."  It  was  this  which  led  to  Abraham 
being  called  "the  friend  of  God,"  and  it  was 
familiar  intercourse  with  God  which  led  to  Moses 
being  described  as  one  "whom  the  Lord  knew  face 
to  face"  (Deut.  xxxiv.  10).  This  is  the  culminat- 
ing point  of  Christian  privilege  and  opportunity, 
fellowship  with  God  and  the  power  of  intimate 
and  blessed  intercourse  in  prayer. 

Prayer  is  a  spirit  of  enquiry.  The  word  sug- 
gesting this  is  ipoiTaoi  (John  xvi.  23).  Our  Lord 
*Trench,  Synonyms  of  the  New  Testament,  p.  190. 


Aspects  of  Prayer  39 

said  to  His  disciples,  "In  that  day  ye  shall  ask 
Me  no  questions/*  i.e.,  in  the  day  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  full  revelation  the  disciples  would  have  no 
need  to  make  enquiries  of  their  Master;  all  the 
things  which  had  troubled  them  would  be  made 
clear.  And  yet  this  word  is  used  once  in  the  New 
Testament  in  connection  with  prayer.  In  1  John 
V.  16  we  read  of  "sin  unto  death,"  i.e.,  not  any  par- 
ticular sin,  but  sin,  the  state  and  condition  of  evil. 
The  Apostle  then  goes  on  to  say,  "I  do  not  say 
that  he  should  make  enquiry  (ask  a  question)  con- 
cerning this."  The  thought  suggested  is  that  of 
the  believer  asking  questions,  seeking  light  on  a 
difficulty,  "Lord,  what  is  the  meaning  of  this.'*" 
This  is  part,  and  a  most  precious  part,  of  our  life 
of  privilege,  that  of  going  to  the  Lord  in  prayer, 
seeking  light  and  explanation.  One  of  the  most 
beautiful  illustrations  of  this  is  found  in  the  story 
of  the  Last  Supper  as  recorded  by  St.  John.  When 
John  was  leaning  on  the  bosom  of  Jesus,  Peter, 
wishing  to  know  who  was  about  to  betray  their 
Master,  beckoned  to  John  to  ask  Jesus  who  it  was. 
In  the  Revised  Version  we  read,  "Then  John,  lean- 
ing back,  as  he  was,  on  Jesus*  breast,  said.  Lord, 
who  is  \tV*  He  was  already  leaning  on  the  bosom 
of  his  Master,  and  he  had  no  need  to  come  closer: 
so  he  simply  leaned  back  and  asked,  "Lord,  who 
is  it.^"     This  is  the  true  attitude  of  the  believer. 


40  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

in  such  close  fellowship  with  Christ  that  he  can 
simply  ask  his  Master  about  any  difficulty,  and 
seek  for  the  explanation.  Prayer  in  this  sense  is 
not  for  gifts  or  grace  so  much  as  for  guidance  and 
light.  The  Lord  "will  be  enquired  of"  for  this. 
He  delights  to  have  us  take  our  difficulties  and 
problems  to  Him.  He  Himself  said,  "Shall  I  hide 
from  Abraham  that  thing  which  I  do?"  and 
"Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants;  for  the  ser- 
vant knoweth  not  what  his  lord  doeth :  but  I  have 
called  you  friends ;  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard 
of  My  Father  I  have  made  known  unto  you."  Let 
us  treasure  and  use  the  privilege  of  fellowship 
more  and  more.  "Were  half  the  breath  vainly 
spent"  in  telling  our  difficulties  to  others  used  in 
telling  the  Lord  about  them,  we  should  soon  have 
fewer  problems  and  many  more  solutions. 

Prayer  is  a  bond  of  union.  In  Matthew  xviii.  19 
we  read,  "If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  they  shall  ask."  The  word 
translated  "agree"  is  crv/x<^cDV€<i)j  from  which  we  get 
our  word  "symphony."  "If  two  of  you  shall  sym- 
phonize,"  the  two  voices  blending  in  beautiful 
agreement.  Prayer,  therefore,  is  more  than  the 
request  of  one  individual,  and  is  kept  from  being 
solitary  and  even  selfish  by  being  exercised  in 
union  with  others.     Union  in  prayer  is  one  of  the 


Aspects  of  Prayer  41 

most  blessed  and  potent  influences  of  true  Christian 
life,  and  we  cannot  have  too  much  united  prayer. 

The  "symphony"  of  God's  people  in  prayer  is 
the  sure  harbinger  of  spiritual  blessing  from  God. 

These  are  seven  of  the  most  prominent  aspects 
of  prayer  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
we  may  use  them  as  a  touchstone  of  our  ideas  of 
prayer,  and  also  the  reality  of  our  own  prayer- 
life.  They  will  show  us  what  God  means  by 
prayer,  and  what  He  has  for  us  of  spiritual  bless- 
ing by  means  of  it.  As  the  Puritan  Trapp  quaintly 
says,  "God  respecteth  not  the  arithmetic  of  our 
prayers,  how  many  they  be;  nor  the  rhetoric  of 
our  prayers,  how  long  they  may  be;  nor  the  music 
of  our  prayers,  how  methodical  they  be;  but  the 
divinity  of  our  prayers,  how  heart-sprung  they 
are.    Not  gifts,  but  graces,  prevail  in  prayer." 

**To  stretch  my  hand  and  touch  Him, 

Though  He  be  far  away; 
To  raise  my  eyes  and  see  Him 

Through  darkness  as  through  day; 
To  lift  my  voice  and  call  Him — 
This  is  to  pray! 

To  feel  a  hand  extended 

By  One  Who  standeth  near; 
To  view  the  love  that  shineth 

In  eyes  serene  and  clear; 
To  know  that  He  is  calling — 
This  is  to  hear!" 


4)2.  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

2.     Subjects  of  Prayer. 

From  the  thought  of  what  prayer  is  we  naturally 
turn  to  consider  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture 
as  to  the  subjects  of  prayer,  what  we  should  pray 
for,  the  main  and  outstanding  petitions  warranted 
and  encouraged  in  the  New  Testament.  What  are 
the  things  laid  down  in  Scripture  as  to  which  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  we  may  and  should  pray  to 
God? 

Spiritual  Adjustment.  2  Cor.  xiii.  9,  "This  also 
we  wish,  even  your  perfection."  The  word  means 
"adjustment,"  the  proper  and  due  adjustment  of 
the  soul's  relation  to  God.  This  word  and  its  cog- 
nates occur  pretty  frequently  and  the  meaning  is 
invariably  the  same.  "That  the  man  of  God  may 
be  adjusted"  (2  Tim.  iii.  17).  "For  the  adjusting 
of  the  saints"  (Eph.  iv.  12).  The  word  is  used 
of  "mending  their  nets"  in  Matthew  iv.  21,  and 
the  above  passage  in  Ephesians  iv.  12  might  liter- 
ally be  rendered,  "for  the  repair  of  the  saints." 
The  people  of  God  often  need  spiritual  "repair," 
their  nets  to  be  "mended,"  and  this  was  the  prayer 
of  St.  Paul  for  Corinth,  where  his  anxieties  about 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church  had  been  so  great. 
"This  I  wish,  even  your  repair.  When  anything 
has  become  wrong  in  the  life  of  a  believer  the 
primary  necessity  is   re-adjustment.     As   an   arm 


Subjects  of  Prayer  43 

which  has  been  dislocated  must  be  set  before 
health  and  strength  can  return,  so  the  soul  must 
be  reinstated  in  a  right  position  with  God  before 
a  healthful  condition  again  becomes  possible.  The 
cause  of  so  much  dryness,  weakness,  powerless- 
ness,  in  many  a  Christian  life  is  that  the  soul  is 
out  of  adjustment.  This  is  one  of  our  true  aspira- 
tions in  prayer,  and  no  one  can  exaggerate  its  im- 
portance and  necessity.  For  spiritual  re-adjust- 
ment and  repair,  for  re-instatement  in  the  right 
position,  for  vigour  of  life,  let  us  be  much  in  prayer. 
Prayer  brings  us  into  the  presence  of  God  and  en- 
ables us  to  see  what  is  wrong.  Prayer  then  brings 
to  us  the  healing,  forgiving  grace  of  God  which 
adjusts  the  soul  and  places  it  once  more  in  that 
living  union  and  communion  with  our  Lord,  from 
which  all  vigour,  blessing,  and  joy  naturally  flow. 

"Drop  Thy  still  dews  of  quietness, 

Till  all  our  strivings  cease: 
Take  from  our  souls  the  strain  and  stress. 
And  let  our  ordered  lives  confess 

The  beauty  of  Thy  peace. 

Breathe  through  the  pulses  of  desire 

Thy  coolness  and  Thy  balm; 
Let  sense  be  dumb,  its  heats  expire: 
Speak  through  the  earthquake,  wind,  and  fire, 

O  still  small  voice  of  calm!" 


44  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

Spiritual  Progress.  Col.  iv.  12.  Epaphras 
prayed  for  those  at  Colosse,  that  they  might 
"stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all  the  will  of  God." 
The  word  "perfect"  here,  as  elsewhere,  means 
mature,  full-grown,  ripe  in  experience  (tcXcios). 
There  is  no  allusion  whatever  in  the  word  or  con- 
text to  the  entire  absence  of  sin  or  sinlessness. 
St.  Paul  frequently  uses  the  word  to  denote  a  fully 
developed  or  ripening  Christian  as  distinct  from 
a  new  beginner,  a  "man  in  Christ"  from  a  "babe." 
In  1  Corinthians  ii.  6,  he  writes,  "We  speak  wis- 
dom among  them  that  are  **mature"  those  that 
have  reached  or  are  approximating  towards  the 
end  or  goal  (tcXos)  of  their  Christian  life.  It  is 
this  that  our  Lord  meant  when  He  said,  "Be  ye 
therefore  (or,  ye  shall  be)  perfect,  even  as  your 
Father  which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect"  (Matt.  v.  48). 
God  is  spoken  of  in  the  context  of  that  verse  as 
sending  down  His  rain  on  the  just  and  unjust, 
being  kind  indiscriminately  to  the  unthankful  and 
evil,  and  the  Lord  applies  this  to  His  disciples  and 
says,  "Do  likewise,  do  not  limit  your  attention  to 
the  good  and  beneficent.  Be  mature  (and  not  im- 
mature) as  is  your  Heavenly  Father." 

The  precise  form  which  Epaphras  desired  this 
maturity  to  take  at  Colosse  was  that  they  should 
stand  "fully  assured  in  all  the  will  of  God"  (h.v.). 


Subjects  of  Prayer  45 

The  will  of  God  is  the  crown  of  life,  and  when  a 
believer  is  "fully  assured"  concerning  it,  its  clear- 
ness, its  blessedness,  its  authority,  then  indeed  is 
he  making  spiritual  progress. 

Toward  this  end  prayer  is  the  appointed  means. 
Prayer  develops  spiritual  faculties  and  leads  to 
spiritual  ripeness.  Prayer  makes  real  the  presence 
of  God,  and  in  that  presence  the  will  of  God  be- 
comes clear  and  asserts  its  complete  yet  blessed 
authority.  The  more  we  pray  the  riper  we  become 
and  the  more  completely  assured  of  the  will  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  concerning  us.  As  a  well- 
known  writer.  Dr.  Schauffler,  says,  "When  we  are 
on  our  knees,  then  light  flashes;  then  the  intellect 
is  clarified;  then  the  conscience  is  aroused;  then 
the  spiritual  sensibilities  are  quickened ;  and  we  can 
learn  more  of  our  duty  and  of  His  will  than  in 
hours  of  argumentation.  So  Jesus  learned  by 
prayer,  and  all  He  derived  from  men  and  nature 
was  clarified  and  illuminated  when  the  divine  light 
came  down  as  He  was  holding  communion  with 
His  heavenly  Father." 

"O  Jesus  Christ,  grow  Thou  in  me, 

And  all  things  else  recede; 
My  heart  be  daily  nearer  Thee, 

From  sin  be  daily  freed. 


46  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

Each  day  let  Thy  supporting  might 

My  weakness  still  embrace; 
My  darkness  vanish  in  Thy  light. 

Thy  life  my  death  eflface. 

In  Thy  bright  beams  which  on  me  fall 

Fade  every  evil  thought; 
That  I  am  nothing,  Thou  art  all, 

I  would  be  daily  taught. 

Make  this  poor  self  grow  less  and  less. 

Be  Thou  my  life  and  aim; 
O  make  me  daily,  through  Thy  grace. 

More  worthy  of  Thy  Name." 

Spiritual  Power.  Mark  ix.  28,  29.  "Lord,  why 
could  not  we  cast  him  out.''  .  .  .  This  kind  cometh 
not  out  but  by  prayer  ..."  There  had  been 
failure,  dire  and  deplorable,  on  the  part  of  the  dis- 
ciples in  their  Master's  absence.  A  case  of  great 
need  had  been  brought  before  them  and  they  had 
utterly  failed  to  expel  the  demon,  notwithstanding 
the  power  previously  given  to  them  for  this  very 
purpose.  The  power  was  evidently  not  absolute  but 
conditional,  and  they  had  forgotten  to  fulfill  the 
condition  and  so  maintain  the  power.  The  expla- 
nation of  their  failure  is  plainly  told  them  by  their 
Master.  "This  kind  cometh  not  out  but  by 
prayer."  They  had  failed  in  power  because  they 
had  failed  in  prayer.     If  we  would  have  power  in 


Subjects  of  Prayer  47 

service  we  must  pray.  The  "demons"  still  to  be 
found  in  our  cities  and  villages,  in  our  congrega- 
tions and  homes,  will  never  be  cast  out  except  by 
prayer.  "Lord,  why  is  it  my  sermons  are  so  power- 
less.'*" "Lord,  how  is  it  my  Bible  class  lessons 
make  no  impression?"  "Lord,  why  could  I  not 
lead  those  boys  to  Thee.^"  "This  kind  cometh  not 
out  but  by  prayer."  We  must  prepare,  but  we 
must  also  pray.  Our  life  of  service  must  be  per- 
meated with  prayer.  Sermons,  classes,  visiting, 
open-air  speaking,  every  form  of  Christian  service 
must  be  suffused  with  prayer.  Then  will  come 
power  and  blessing,  with  glory  and  praise  to  God. 

Hitherto  our  aspirations  in  prayer  have  been 
concerned  with  ourselves  and  our  own  needs.  We 
must  now  turn  to  the  needs  of  others.  A  very 
large  part  of  true  Christianity  is  occupied  with 
prayer  for  others. 

Christian  Fellowship,  James  v.  16.  "Pray  one 
for  another."  This  is  a  call  to  pray  for  our  friends 
and  fellow-believers  in  Christ.  God  has  so  con- 
stituted the  Church  that  a  great  part  of  our  spirit- 
ual blessings  are  mediated  through  others,  and 
especially  through  the  prayers  of  others.  Samuel 
had  a  very  high  idea  of  the  importance  of  praying 
for  others  when  he  said,  "God  forbid  that  I  should 
sin  against  the  Lord  in  ceasing  to  pray  for  you** 
(1    Sam.   xii.    23).      The   absence   of  intercessory 


48  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

prayer,  then,  is  a  sin.  How  solemn  and  searching 
this  is !  How  many  of  us  commit  it  by  limiting  our 
prayers  too  much  to  ourselves,  our  own  life  and 
its  needs.  And  yet  who  that  has  tried  it  does  not 
know  the  unspeakable  joy  that  comes  from  bearing 
up  before  God  the  name  of  friend  after  friend  in 
earnest,  constant  and  believing  prayer. 

Some  seem  to  find  it  a  burden  to  do  this.  They 
have  so  many  friends  and  acquaintances  within 
their  circle  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  bring 
them  one  by  one  to  God  and  seek  for  definite 
blessing.  They  therefore  content  themselves  with 
the  most  general  and  inclusive  prayer  for  blessing 
and  grace  on  their  friends.  But  this  is  to  lose 
blessing  for  themselves  and  for  others.  Interces- 
sory prayer  need  not  be  a  burden  but  a  joy  if  we 
only  set  about  it  carefully  and  simply.  A  little 
book  such  as  Dr.  Harford's  Daily  or  Dr.  Andrew 
Murray's  Helps  to  Intercession  will  enable  us  to 
spread  the  names  of  our  friends  over  a  week,  or 
two  weeks,  or  even  a  month,  and  so  bring  them 
before  God  without  any  difficulty  and  with  ever- 
increasing  delight.  Best  of  all,  if  we  prepare  our 
own  little  book  of  intercessory  prayer,  according 
to  our  particular  needs  and  circumstances,  and 
then  use  it  day  by  day  in  intercessory  prayer,  we 
shall  find  this  exercise  of  our  Christian  priesthood 
(Heb.  V.    1)   one  of  the  greatest  joys  and  most 


Subjects  of  Prayer  49 

special  privileges  of  our  Christian  life.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  blessings  that  will  surely  come  to  those 
for  whom  we  pray  we  must  never  fail  to  remember 
the  reflex  benefits  on  our  lives  which  come  from 
seeking  grace  for  others.  "He  that  watereth  shall 
be  watered  also  himself"  (Prov.  xi.  25).  Enlarge- 
ment of  soul,  increase  of  sympathy,  a  deepening 
tenderness,  a  growing  unselfishness,  and  a  gradual 
conformity  to  the  image  of  Him  Whose  main 
thought  is  (and  was)  always  for  others  (Phil.  ii. 
8)  will  mark  the  life  of  the  believer  who  makes 
prominent  the  work  of  intercessory  prayer.  "The 
Lord  turned  the  captivity  of  Job  when  he  prayed 
for  his  friends"  (Job  xlii.  10). 

"The  weary  ones  had  rest,  the  sad  had  joy 

That  day,  and  wondered  *how.' 
A  ploughman  singing  at  his  work  had  prayed, 

*Lord,  help  them  now.' 

Away  in  foreign  lands  they  wondered  how 

Their  simple  word  had  power. 
At  home,  the  Christians  two  or  three  had  met 

To  pray  an  hour. 

Yes,  we  are  always  wond'ring,  wond'ring  'how*: 

Because  we  do  not  see 
Someone,  unknown  perhaps,  and  far  away, 

On  bended  knee!" 

F.  M.  Nesbit. 


60  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

The  Ministry.  2  Thess.  iii.  1.  "Pray  for  us, 
that  the  Word  of  the  Lord  may  run  and  be  glori- 
fied." The  Apostle  Paul  depended  much  and  often 
on  the  prayers  of  his  fellow-Christians.  "Ye  also 
helping  together  by  prayer  for  us"  (2  Cor.  i.  11). 
Prayer  for  the  ministry  is  one  of  the  most  pressing 
duties  and  one  of  the  most  blessed  privileges  of 
Christian  people.  Mr.  Spurgeon  was  once  asked 
how  it  was  that  he  obtained  such  great  blessings 
in  his  church.  "My  people  pray  for  me/*  he  re- 
plied. It  is  one  of  the  joys  and  chief  sources  of 
power  and  encouragement  in  a  minister's  life  to 
know  that  he  is  surrounded  by  a  praying  people. 
He  knows  and  feels  as  he  stands  in  the  pulpit  be- 
fore the  sermon  commences  that  loving  hearts  are 
to  be  found  in  the  congregation  praying  for  the 
message  he  is  about  to  deliver,  and  this  gives  him 
inspiration  and  power.  And  then  to  realise  that 
during  the  week  the  concerns  of  the  church  and 
congregation  are  being  daily  brought  before  God 
by  his  congregation  in  private  and  family  prayer 
is  a  guarantee  of  true  fellowship  and  constant 
blessing  on  church  life.  A  man  cannot  but  preach 
with  power  if  his  people  pray  for  him,  and  that 
church  cannot  help  being  a  center  of  life  and  in- 
fluence where  the  people  are  individually  and 
unitedly  waiting  on  God  for  spiritual  blessing  in 
the  ministry.    Some  time  ago  a  clergyman  received 


Subjects  of  Prayer  61 

a  letter  from  a  stranger  who  said  that  sixty  years 
before  she  had  received  blessing  in  the  particular 
church  to  which  the  clergyman  ministered.  Since 
then  she  had  not  failed  to  pray  for  the  minister 
and  congregation  every  Sunday  morning,  and  she 
now  wrote  to  enquire  after  the  welfare  of  that 
church  and  to  know  something  of  its  affairs  after 
sixty  years  of  absence  and  change.  Who  can  tell 
how  much  of  the  blessing  which  has  been  granted 
to  that  church  has  been  due  to  that  old  saint's 
prayers.''  We  cannot  gauge  the  influence  of  our 
prayers  as  we  plead  for  the  ministry  that  it  may  be 
a  ministry  of  power,  that  the  Word  preached  may 
"run  and  be  glorified/*  and  that  the  Gospel  may 
come  not  in  word  only,  but  also  in  power,  and  in 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in  much  assurance  (1  Thess. 
i.5). 

World-wide  Evangelisation.  Matt.  ix.  38. 
"Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He 
will  send  forth  labourers  into  His  harvest."  Why 
"therefore"  }  Because  "the  harvest  truly  is  plente- 
ous, but  the  labourers  are  few"  (v.  37).  The  place 
of  prayer  in  connection  with  missions  is  thus  clear 
and  undoubted.  One  might  think  that  in  a  work 
calling  for  thought,  energy,  devotion,  effort,  the 
need  of  prayer  would  be  scarcely,  if  at  all,  felt. 
But  the  Lord  here  makes  it  prominent,  and  bases  it 
on  the  greatness  of  the  need  and  the  fewness  of  the 


52  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

supply  of  workers.  And  Christian  experience  uni- 
versally bears  witness  to  the  power  of  prayer  in 
connection  with  the  evangelisation  of  the  world. 
We  sometimes  hear  it  said  in  missionary  sermons 
and  addresses  when  appealing  for  more  help,  *'If 
you  can  do  nothing  else  for  us,  you  can  pray,"  as 
though  prayer  were  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world. 
It  is  in  reality  the  hardest  thing  to  do  for  foreign 
missions.  It  is  much  easier  to  read  of  missions,  or 
to  give,  or  even  to  go.  If  a  man  begins  to  pray 
for  missions  he  will  soon  find  that  the  expenditure 
of  spiritual  power  and  energy  is  by  no  means 
small,  if  his  prayers  are  in  any  sense  real.  His 
prayers  will  lead  to  enquiry  about  missions,  his 
inquiries  will  lead  to  knowledge,  his  knowledge  to 
interest,  his  interest  to  sympathy,  his  sympathy  to 
gifts,  and  his  gifts  to  the  consecration  of  his  life 
to  this  paramount  duty  of  the  Christian  Church. 
To  pray  definitely  we  must  know  something  of  the 
great  field,  for  only  thus  can  our  prayers  become 
definite,  earnest,  and  certain  of  an  answer. 

Prayer  for  missions  should  be  our  daily  work 
and  joy.  In  connection  with  almost  all  our  Mis- 
sionary Societies  there  are  Cycles  of  Prayer 
covering  a  week  or  a  month,  during  which  we  can 
plead  with  God  definitely  and  intelligently  for  the 
various  parts  of  the  great  harvest  field  as  well  as 


Subjects  of  Prayer  53 

for  the  congregations  at  home  where  there  are  so 
many  Christians  who  at  present  are  doing  nothing 
for  their  Master.  A  strong,  vigorous,  growing 
Christian  life  will  always  make  daily  prayer  for 
the  evangelisation  of  the  world  a  foremost  duty, 
and  find  in  it  a  precious  privilege  and  an  increas- 
ing blessing. 

The  Church  of  Christ.  Eph.  vi.  17ff.  "Praying 
.  .  .  for  all  saints."  What  a  glorious  conception 
the  Apostle  gives  us  in  Ephesians  of  the  fellowship 
of  all  Christians  in  the  mystical  Body  of  Christ 
our  Lord!  That  Epistle  is  essentially  the  Epistle 
of  the  Church  rather  than  of  the  individual,  and  in 
addition  to  the  teaching  of  the  Epistle  as  a  whole 
(especially  chapters  i.-iv.)  the  phrase  **all  saints" 
occurs  twice  to  remind  us  of  the  place  and  power 
of  the  whole  community  of  Christians.  In  chapter 
iii.  18,  19,  St.  Paul  prays  that  Christians  may  be 
able  to  comprehend  "with  all  saints  what  is  the 
breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  and  height;  and 
to  know  the  love  of  Christ."  All  the  saints  are 
required  for  this,  for  the  love  of  Christ  is  beyond 
the  comprehension  of  any  individual  Christian. 
From  another  point  of  view  we  see  the  importance 
of  the  whole  church  when  we  are  asked  by  the 
Apostle  to  pray  "for  all  saints."  Fellowship  is 
one   of  the  most   characteristic   elements   of  true 


54  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

Christianity,  and  the  true  life  can  only  be  lived 
aright  in  proportion  as  we  seek  to  realise  and  bene- 
fit by  the  fullest  possible  fellowship  among  Chris- 
tians. A  solitary  and  purely  individualistic  Chris- 
tianity is  at  once  an  impossibility,  and  an  absolute 
contradiction  of  the  very  essence  of  the  Gospel. 
The  influence  and  blessing  of  the  Church  on  the 
individual,  and  the  corresponding  action  of  the  in- 
dividual as  part  of  the  church  are  two  sides  of  a 
great  truth.  We  can  readily  understand,  therefore, 
the  necessity,  power,  and  blessing  of  prayer  for 
the  whole  church.  Such  prayer  keeps  the  one  who 
prays  from  narrowness,  selfishness,  and  mere  in- 
dividualism, while  the  answer  to  the  prayer  blesses 
the  church  and  enables  it  to  realise  more  fully  the 
purpose  of  God  concerning  it  as  a  witness  for 
Christ.  Prayer  "for  all  saints"  should  ever  be 
prominent  and  persistent  in  our  Christian  life  of 
prayer. 

All  the  world.  1  Tim.  ii.  1.  "For  all  men." 
What  a  revelation  of  the  heart  of  St.  Paul  we  have 
in  this  verse;  nay,  more,  what  a  revelation  of  the 
heart  of  God  Who  inspired  the  Apostle  to  write! 
What  a  revelation,  too,  of  the  power  of  prayer  as 
embracing  the  whole  world!  God  has  indeed  set 
the  church  a  work  to  do  in  making  supplication  for 
all  mankind.     In  this  world-wide  work  of  prayer 


Subjects  of  Prayer  65 

we  find  the  true,  deep  meaning  of  the  Christian 
priesthood.  A  priest  is  defined  as  one  who  "is 
ordained  for  men  in  things  pertaining  to  God" 
(Heb.  V.  1).  His  work  was  pre-eminently  asso- 
ciated with  the  offering  of  sacrifices  and  interces- 
sions. The  Christian  Church  as  a  whole,  with  each 
Christian  in  particular,  is  now  called  upon  to  en- 
gage in  this  holy  work  of  priestly  intercession. 
From  one  point  of  view  the  Church  is  God's  witness 
to  the  world,  bearing  testimony  to  Him  Whoiii  the 
world  has  rejected.  In  another  sense,  and  with 
equal  reality,  the  Church  brings  the  world  before 
God,  bearing  before  the  Throne  of  Grace  its  deep 
needs,  even  though  the  great  mass  of  mankind  is 
utterly  unconscious  of  them.  We  are  told  of  God's 
attitude  to  the  world  in  the  very  significant  word 
"philanthropy"  (Titus  iii.  4,  Greek),  i.e.,  the  love 
of  man  as  man,  or  *'man-lovingness,"  as  the  late 
Archbishop  Benson  once  rendered  it.  It  was  the 
same  spirit  of  love  for  man  as  man  that  prompted 
the  barbarians  at  Melita  to  show  the  Apostle  and 
his  companions  no  little  "philanthropy"  (Acts 
xxviii.  2,  Greek).  How  much  more  shall  the  Chris- 
tian be  a  true  "philanthropist,"  showing  his  love  to 
man  in  the  best  possible  way  by  earnest,  loving, 
constant  prayer  for  all  men.  And  if  we  read  the 
context  of  the  Apostolic  injunction  we  shall  have 
a  further  truth  of  the  power  and  scope  of  prayer. 


56  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

"For  kings,  and  for  all  that  are  in  authority"  (1 
Tim.  ii.  2).  As  Dr.  Andrew  Murray  well  says, 
"What  a  faith  in  the  power  of  prayer!  A  few 
feeble  and  despised  Christians  are  to  influence  the 
mighty  Roman  Emperors,  and  help  in  securing 
peace  and  quietness.  Let  us  believe  that  prayer  is 
a  power  that  is  taken  up  by  God  in  His  rule  of  the 
world.  .  .  .  When  God's  people  unite  in  this 
they  may  count  upon  their  prayer  affecting  in  the 
unseen  world  more  than  they  know." 

"Lord,  for  the  lonely  heart 
I  pray  apart. 

Now,  for  this  son  of  sorrow 
Whom  this  to-morrow 
Rejoiceth  not,  O  Lord, 
Hear  my  weak  word. 

For  lives  too  bitter  to  be  borne. 
For  the  tempted  and  the  torn. 
For  the  prisoner  in  the  cell, 
For  the  shame  lip  doth  not  tell. 
For  the  haggard  suicide, 
Peace,  peace,  this  Christmastide. 

In  the  desert,  trod 

By  the  long  sick,  O  God; 

Into  the  patient  gloom 

Of  that  small  room 

Where  lies  the  child  of  pain 

Of  all  neglected  most — be  fain 

To  enter,  healing,  and  remain. 


Subjects  of  Prayer  67 

Now  at  the  fall  of  day, 
I  bow  and  pray, 
For  those  who  cannot  sleep 
A  watch  I  keep. 

Oh,  let  the  starving  brain 
Be  fed  and  fed  again; 
At  Thy  behest 
The  tortured  nerve  find  rest. 

I  see  the  vacant  chair. 
Father  of  souls,  prepare 
My  poor  thought's  feeble  power 
To  plead  this  hour: 

For  the  empty,  aching  home. 
Where  the  silent  footsteps  come, 
Where  the  unseen  face  looks  on, 
Where  the  hand-clasp  is  not  felt. 
Where  the  dearest  eyes  are  gone. 
Where  the  portrait  on  the  wall 
Stirs  and  struggles  as  to  speak, 
Where  the  light  breath  from  the  hall 
Calls  the  colour  to  the  cheek, 
Where  the  voice  breaks  in  the  hymn 
When  the  sunset  burneth  dim. 
Where  the  late  large  tear  will  start, 
Frozen  by  the  broken  heart. 
Where  the  lesson  is  to  learn 
How  to  live,  to  grieve,  to  yearn. 
How  to  bear  and  how  to  bow. 
Oh,  the  Christmas  that  is  fled! 
Lord  of  living  and  of  dead. 
Comfort  Thoul" 


68  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

3.     Conditions  of  Prayer 

Prayer  must  be  unceasing  (dStaXccVTws),  Rom.  i. 
9;  1  Thess.  v.  17.  What  is  the  meaning  of  un- 
ceasing prayer.^  How  is  it  possible  to  "pray 
without  ceasing".^  The  true  idea  is  that  of  the 
constant  spirit  of  prayer  which  should  character- 
ise our  life.  The  soul  needs  first  of  all  its  stated 
times  of  prayer,  day  by  day.  These  stated  times 
of  prayer  act  as  reservoirs  of  spiritual  power 
which  influence  the  whole  life.  The  result  is  that 
the  soul  becomes  permeated  with  spiritual  force 
and  blessing  which  leads  instinctively  to  a  con- 
tinual spirit  of  prayer  and  fellowship  with  God. 

We  use  a  picturesque  and  beautiful  word  when 
we  speak  of  "ejaculatory"  prayer.  It  comes  from 
"jaculum,"  a  dart  or  arrow,  and  fittingly  describes 
prayer  which  "darts"  up  to  God  at  all  times.  This 
is  the  true  expression  of  the  spirit  of  prayer,  a 
spirit  which  in  any  moment  of  opportunity  lifts 
itself  up  in  a  few  words  of  prayer  and  inter- 
cession. Prayer,  then,  is  at  once  an  act  and  an 
attitude,  and  as  it  has  been  well  said,  "Whatever 
may  be  the  attitude  of  the  body  the  soul  should  be 
ever  on  its  knees."  We  may  turn  every  circum- 
stance, experience,  and  incident  of  the  day  into 
prayer,  and  find  in  the  "daily  round,  the  common 


Conditions  of  Prayer  59 

task,"  constant  opportunities  of  ascending  to  God 
in  prayer  and  praise. 

"I  need  not  leave  the  jostling  world. 

Or  wait  till  daily  tasks  are  e'er. 
To  fold  my  palms  in  secret  prayer 

Within  the  close-shut  closet  door. 

There  is  a  viewless,  cloistered  room, 
As  high  as  heaven,  as  fair  as  day, 

Where,  though  my  feet  may  join  the  throng. 
My  soul  can  enter  in  and  pray. 

And  never  through  those  crystal  wails 
The  clash  of  life  can  pierce  its  way. 

Nor  ever  can  a  human  ear 
Drink  in  the  spirit-words  I  say. 

One  hearkening,  even,  cannot  know 
When  I  have  crossed  the  threshold  o'er; 

For  He  alone.  Who  hears  my  prayer. 
Has  heard  the  shutting  of  the  door." 

Prayer  must  be  steadfast  (irpo(TKapTip€<t))^  "con- 
tinuing instant,"  Rom.  xii.  12.  The  word  is  used 
in  several  connections,  all  of  which  illustrate  its 
meaning  when  applied  to  prayer.  It  is  the  word 
used  of  the  little  ship  which  was  to  "attend  con- 
tinually" on  Jesus  Christ"  (Mark  iii.  9),  and  it 
describes  the  attitude  of  Simon  Magus  in  his 
"continuing"*  with  Philip  (Acts  viii.  13).  It  is 
also  used  of  those  who  were  "waiting"  for  the  day 


60  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

of  Pentecost  (Acts  i.  14),  and  the  thought  of  the 
word  is  that  of  someone  putting  forth  his  whole 
strength  in  order  to  wait.  It  conveys  at  once  the 
idea  of  activity  and  passivity.  It  is  well  rendered 
by  the  word  "steadfast" — a  state  in  which  you  put 
forth  your  entire  strength  simply  to  wait.  It 
denotes  the  spirit  of  waiting  continuously,  stead- 
fastly, upon  God  in  prayer.  We  can  see  from  all 
this  something  of  what  prayer  really  means.  It 
calls  for  persistent  activity  and  patient  abiding, 
the  power  of  the  whole  soul  being  concentrated  on 
this  blessed  and  fruitful  experience. 

Prayer  must  be  active  (dywvt'^o/Aat),  Col.  iv.  12; 
(dywv)  Col.  ii.  1.  The  Greek  words  are  rendered 
exactly  in  English  by  our  words  "agonize"  and 
"agony."  We  sometimes  speak  of  "agonizing  in 
prayer,"  but  it  is  incorrect  to  associate  the  words 
with  the  idea  of  pain,  sharp  pain,  or  suffering. 
It  is  a  word  used  not  of  pain,  but  of  strenuous 
effort  in  a  contest;  it  is  the  activity  of  the  wrestler 
concentrating  his  whole  energy  on  his  effort;  and 
when  St.  Paul  said  of  Epaphras  that  he  was 
always  "agonizing  in  prayers"  we  must  be  careful 
not  to  think  of  our  English  word,  which  implies 
physical  suffering.  That  is  not  in  the  Greek  word 
at  all;  the  idea  is  of  "a  contest."  You  do  not 
imagine  an  athlete  in  positive  pain  when  wrestling 
or  when  endeavouring  to  win  a  race;  he  strains 


Conditions  of  Prayer  61 

every  muscle  to  get  to  the  winning-post,  and  puts 
forth  all  his  strength,  vigour,  and  strenuousness. 
We  have  great  need  of  care  when  we  speak  of 
our  Lord  being  "in  agony."  No  doubt  our  Lord 
was  in  pain,  but  it  is  not  included  in  that  word 
"agony."  'Ayoona  is  a  contest,  a  struggle  with  an 
opponent,  and  therefore  a  putting  forth  of  our 
whole  strength  and  vigour  in  that  which  we  have 
to  do.  When  we  thus  take  away  the  thought  of 
pain  we  remind  believers  that  there  is  nothing 
terrible,  awful,  and  sad  in  praying,  though  there 
is  everything  earnest,  strenuous,  determined,  and 
decided.  It  means  that  we  should  put  forth  all 
our  moral  fibre  and  spiritual  energy  in  order  to 
pray.  And  it  also  gives  us  more  than  a  hint  of 
a  strife,  an  effort  on  the  part  of  our  spiritual 
adversary  to  prevent  us  from  praying,  and,  still 
more,  from  getting  our  prayers  answered. 

Prayer  must  be  intense  (iKrevToi^  iKTcvtcrrepov)^ 
Acts  xii.  5 ;  Luke  xxii.  44.  The  above  are  the  only 
two  passages  where  the  word  is  used  in  relation 
to  prayer.  It  comes  from  cKraVo),  "to  stretch  out," 
and  implies  an  intensity  by  which  we  nerve  our- 
selves, and,  as  it  were,  stretch  ourselves  out  in 
order  to  do  our  very  utmost  in  prayer.  It  implies 
a  bow  drawn  to  its  full  length  and  strength.  So 
should  our  hearts  be  in  prayer. 

Once  more,   then,   we   see   what  prayer   really 


62  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

means  as  an  element  of  true  spiritual  life  and 
experience.  It  is  no  mere  spiritual  luxury  to  be 
enjoyed  or  not  at  will.  It  is  the  outgoing  of  every 
faculty  of  our  spiritual  being  in  a  whole-hearted 
approach  to  God. 

At  this  point  it  is  possible  that  someone  think- 
ing of  these  four  words — "incessant,"  "steadfast," 
"active,"  "intense" — is  saying,  "This  is  too  great 
a  demand  in  the  strain  which  it  puts  upon  me. 
This  is  emphasizing  the  human  side  of  prayer  to 
such  an  extent  that  it  is  beyond  me.  Not  only  are 
my  past  prayers  rebuked,  but  my  future  prayers 
seem  hopeless."  But  in  reply  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  God  knows  our  need,  and  shows  us  the 
human  side  in  order  to  reveal  to  us  the  divine  side 
also.  As  we  continue  the  consideration  of  these 
conditions  of  prayer  we  shall  see  how  wonderfully 
God  Himself  provides  for  the  fulfilment  of  these 
requirements. 

Prayer  must  be  submissive.  1  John  v.  14. 
"According  to  His  will."  Prayer  is  necessarily 
based  on  God's  revelation  of  Himself  and  His  will. 
His  promises  encourage  and  His  commands  incite 
us  to  prayer.  At  the  same  time  the  will  of  God 
gives  us  the  due  and  necessary  limit  of  prayer. 
There  are  many  things  for  which  we  never  think 
of  asking,  simply  because  they  are  not  only  not 
included  in,  but  are  clearly  opposed  to.  His  re- 


Conditions  of  Prayer  68 

vealed  will.  There  are  other  matters  about  which 
we  are  certain  that  they  are  according  to  His 
will,  and  as  to  these  we  plead  His  promises  and 
continue  praying,  waiting,  expecting  the  answer 
in  God's  good  time.  Yet  again,  there  are  many 
things  about  which  there  is  no  revelation  in  the 
Word  of  God,  and  with  reference  to  these  we  pray 
in  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  and  wait  His 
way  of  revealing  to  us  in  daily  circumstances  and 
experience  whether  the  prayer  is  in  harmony  with 
His  purpose  concerning  us.  This  spirit  of  sub- 
missiveness  is  one  of  the  primary  conditions  of 
prayer  and  one  of  the  essential  marks  of  a  true 
spiritual  life.  Our  Lord,  in  Gethsemane,  prayed 
in  this  spirit,  "Not  My  will,  but  Thine  be  done," 
and  when  the  soul  is  ready  to  trust  God  fully  and 
rest  on  His  perfect  wisdom,  the  joyous  experience 
is  that  of  the  Apostle  when  he  said,  "This  is  the 
confidence  that  we  have  in  Him,  that,  if  we  ask 
anything  according  to  His  will.  He  heareth  us" 
(1  John  V.  14). 

"If  when  I  kneel  to  pray, 

With  eager  lips  I  say: 
*Lord,  give  me  all  the  things  that  I  desire; 
Health,  wealth,  fame,  friends,  brave  hearts,  religious  fire, 
The  power  to  sway  my  fellow-men  at  will, 
And  strength  for  mighty  works  to  banish  ill'; 

In  such  a  prayer  as  this. 

The  blessing  I  must  miss. 


64  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

Or  if  I  only  dare 

To  raise  this  fainting  prayer: 
Thou  seest,  Lord,  that  I  am  poor  and  weak. 
And  cannot  tell  what  things  I  ought  to  seek; 
I  therefore  do  not  ask  at  all,  but  still 
I  trust  Thy  bounty  all  my  wants  to  fill'; 

My  lips  shall  thus  grow  dumb. 

The  blessing  will  not  come. 

But  if  I  lowly  fall, 

And  thus  in  faith  I  call: 
Through  Christ,  O  Lord,  I  pray  Thee  give  to  me. 
Not  what  I  would,  but  what  seems  best  to  Thee, 
Of  life,  of  health,  of  service,  and  of  strength. 
Until  to  Thy  full  joy  I  come  at  length'; 

My  prayer  shall  then  avail, 

The  blessing  wUl  not  fail." 

Prayer  must  be  in  the  name  of  Christ.  John 
xiv.  13;  xvi.  24:  "In  My  Name."  The  "Name" 
of  Christ  is  the  revelation  of  His  Person  and 
Character.  It  is  not  a  mere  title,  but  the  expres- 
sion of  everything  we  know  of  Him.  The  "Name" 
is  the  nature,  so  far  as  we  possess  the  manifesta- 
tion of  it.  *'In  His  Name"  implies  union  and 
communion  with  Him.  And  "praying  in  His 
Name"  means  asking  in  union  and  fellowship  with 
Him  as  the  sphere  and  atmosphere  of  our  life. 
Our  Lord  had  taught  His  disciples  many  lessons 
on  prayer  from  the  beginning  of  His  ministry,  but 


Conditions  of  Prayer  66 

this  lesson  of  praying  "in  His  Name"  was  a  new 
one  (John  xvi.  24)  and  marked  an  advance  on 
their  former  knowledge  and  experience.  In  these 
chapters  of  St.  John  (xiv. — xvii.)  we  have  several 
references  to  the  "Name"  of  Christ,  and  to  the 
blessings  associated  with  it.  The  more  fully  we 
get  to  know  the  Lord  in  the  plentitude  and  power 
of  His  presence  and  grace,  the  more  truly  we  shall 
be  enabled  to  pray  "in  His  Name."  The  Word 
of  God  carefully  and  constantly  studied  will  reveal 
to  us  more  of  the  "fulness  of  the  blessing  of 
Christ,"  and  this  will  make  our  prayers  richer, 
fuller,  deeper,  and  more  closely  in  union  with  the 
will  and  purpose  of  God.  We  shall  enter  more 
deeply  into  fellowship  with  our  Lord  as  He  pleads 
above,  and  our  prayers  will  bring  power  and 
blessing  to  all  for  whom  we  pray.  Let  us  take 
time  to  learn  from  God  the  increasing  and  infinite 
possibilities  of  prayer  "in  the  Name"  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

Prayer  must  be  in  the  Spirit.  Jude  20,  "Pray- 
ing in  the  Holy  Ghost";  Eph.  vi.  18,  "Praying 
in  the  Spirit."  This  condition  shows  at 
once  the  Divine  requirement  and  provision  in  rela- 
tion to  prayer.  The  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  unspeakable  blessing  of  every  believer's  life, 
and  this  Divine  presence  is  intimately  connected 


66  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

with  our  life  of  prayer.  The  Holy  Spirit  pleads 
within  us  (Rom.  viii.  26),  and  we  in  turn  "pray 
in  the  Holy  Spirit."  The  word  "Advocate"  as 
applied  to  our  Lord  (1  John  ii.  1)  and  the  word 
"Comforter"  as  applied  to  the  Spirit  are  the  same, 
and  the  meaning  is  "one  called  to  help."  The 
Advocate  above  pleads  before  the  Throne,  the 
Advocate  within  pleads  in  our  hearts,  and  thus  we 
are  linked  to  the  Throne  of  God  and  are  enabled 
to  pray  in  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  reveals  our  needs, 
prompts  our  petitions,  influences  our  desires, 
strengthens  our  faith,  and  confirms  our  hope  and 
expectation  of  answers  to  our  prayers.  The  more 
fully  we  can  realise  our  union  and  communion  with 
the  Holy  Spirit  the  more  we  shall  experience  the 
joy  and  power  of  "praying  with  all  prayer  and 
supplication  in  the  Spirit."  It  is  because  we  are 
living  and  praying  in  the  Holy  Spirit  that  we  are 
enabled  to  fulfill  all  the  other  conditions  and  pray 
incessantly,  actively,  strenuously,  and  intensely. 

Thus  the  human  side  of  prayer  is  met  by  the 
Divine,  and  if  we  are  abiding  in  the  Holy  Ghost 
we  shall  be  enabled  to  put  forth  all  these  activities, 
and  prayer  will  not  only  not  be  a  burden,  but  on 
the  contrary  a  positive  delight  and  a  genuine 
blessing. 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  67 

"Lord,  I  have  shut  my  door! 
Come  Thou  and  visit  me;  I  am  alone! 
Come,  as  when  doors  were  shut,  Thou  cam'st  of  yore, 

And  visitedst  Thine  own. 
My  Lord,  I  kneel  with  reverent  love  and  fear. 

For  Thou  art  here." 

4.     Accompaniments  of  Prayer 

There  are  several  things  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament  as  associated  with  prayer,  and  a  careful 
study  of  them  will  be  of  great  service  in  learning 
how  to  pray. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  faith  (ttio-ti?), 
Mark  xi.  24.  This  is  the  inevitable  and  essential 
accompaniment  of  all  true  prayer.  Prayer  must 
be  based  on  Divine  Revelation  and  find  its  war- 
rant in  the  promises  and  assurances  of  God's  love 
and  grace.  This  distinguishes  Christian  prayer 
from  everything  that  goes  by  the  name  of  prayer 
in  heathen  religions.  Christian  prayer  is  based  on 
the  Word  of  God.  God  encourages,  commands,  in- 
vites, welcomes  prayer.  The  charter  of  prayer 
was  given  by  our  Lord  at  the  outset  of  His 
ministry.  "Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened 
unto  you."  This  charter  was  confirmed  again  and 
again  through  His  earthly  ministry  until  it  found 
its  crown  in  His  fullest,  deepest  teaching  on 
Prayer  on  the  eve  of  the  Crucifixion,  when,  as  we 


68  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

have  seen,  He  taught  His  disciples  the  meaning 
of  prayer:  "in  My  Name."  This  warrant  of 
prayer  is  accordingly  met  by  our  response  of  trust. 
Our  faith  accepts  the  assurance  that  prayer  will 
be  heard  and  answered,  and  pleads  the  fulfillment 
of  Divine  promises.  Faith  is  thus  the  only  pos- 
sible response  to  the  Divine  revelation,  and  apart 
from  our  belief  in  God  as  the  Hearer  of  prayer 
there  could  not  be  any  real  prayer  or  genuine 
blessing.  "He  that  cometh  to  God  must  believe 
that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him"  (Heb.  xi.  6).  Herein  lies 
the  intimate  and  necessary  connection  between  the 
Word  of  God  and  Prayer.  The  greater  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  Scriptures  and  the  richer  our  experi- 
ence of  its  preciousness,  the  fuller  and  deeper  will 
be  our  prayers,  until  it  shall  become  the  simplest 
and  most  natural  and  most  instructive  experience 
of  our  life  to  live  in  the  Divine  Presence  and  rest 
on  the  Divine  promises,  and  then  to  pour  out  our 
souls  in  the  prayer  of  faith  and  believe  to  see  the 
goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  frankness 
(Trapprjo-Lo),  In  1  John  v.  14,  the  word  is  rendered 
"confidence,"  and  means  "freedom  of  speech,"  or 
"unreserved  conversation"  as  between  those  who 
fully  trust  each  other.  This  word  occurs  four 
times  in  St.  John's  first  Epistle,  twice  with  refer- 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  69 

ence  to  the  believer  in  relation  to  the  future,  and 
twice  in  relation  to  the  present.  It  is  helpful  to 
render  it  in  1  John  ii.  28,  as  giving  the  true  mean- 
ing, by  "And  now,  little  children,  abide  in  Him; 
that,  when  He  shall  appear,  we  may  tell  Him 
everything,  and  not  be  ashamed  before  Him  at  His 
coming."  Our  true  attitude  at  that  day  will  be 
"freedom  of  speech,"  nothing  between  us,  nothing 
kept  back.  We  find  the  same  word  in  chapter  iv. 
17,  "That  we  may  have  boldness  in  the  day  of 
judgment"  (rrapprjaia).  Also  in  chapter  iii.  21, 
"Beloved,  if  our  hearts  condemn  us  not,  then  have 
we  confidence  (boldness)  towards  God."  And  then 
chapter  v.  14,  "This  is  the  confidence  we  have  in 
Him,  that  if  we  ask  anything  according  to  His 
will.  He  heareth  us."  When  we  kneel  in  prayer 
this  should  be  the  spirit  of  our  approach  to  God, 
a  spirit  of  confidence,  of  unreserved  speech,  which 
tells  Him  everything,  and  a  spirit  of  child-like 
faith  and  assurance  which  rests  on  His  promises 
and  expects  their  fulfillment  in  answer  to  prayer. 
Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  fasting  (Acts 
xiv.  23).  From  time  to  time  in  the  New  Testament 
prayer  and  fasting  are  associated  (cf.  Mark  ix. 
29).  In  these  passages  the  references  are  doubt- 
less to  abstinence  from  food,  but  we  may  well 
believe  that  fasting  from  food  is  only  one  precise 
way  in  which  the  spiritual  action  associated  with 


70  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

the  idea  is  to  be  expressed.  Fasting  represents  an 
attitude  of  detachment  from  the  things  of  time 
and  sense  whether  it  be  from  food,  or  pleasure,  or 
lawful  ambition.  Prayer  represents  the  comple- 
mentary attitude  of  attachment  to  the  things  of 
God  and  the  spiritual  world.  When  we  thus 
realise  our  need  of  detachment  from  earth  we  shall 
readily  determine,  under  the  guidance  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  what  particular  forms  our  fasting  shall 
take.  In  the  times  of  our  Puritan  forefathers  the 
spiritual  value  of  fasting  from  food  was  fully 
realised,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  whatever  of 
the  relation  of  physical  food  to  spiritual  blessing. 
The  sin  of  overeating  is  only  too  apt  to  hinder 
spiritual  power  in  prayer,  while  if  we  "keep  under 
the  body"  we  shall  certainly  be  conscious  of  more 
liberty  and  blessing  as  we  fulfill  our  work  of 
prayer  and  intercession.  What  we  need  concern- 
ing food,  dress,  books,  recreation,  friendship, 
ambition,  is  the  resolute  determination  to  be  above 
them,  superior  to  them,  in  order  that  the  spiritual 
may  rule  everything.  Like  St.  Paul,  we  should 
say,  "All  things  are  lawful  for  me,  but  I  will  not 
be  brought  under  the  power  of  any"  (1  Cor.  vi. 
12).  This  is  the  true  idea  of  fasting,  and  in  this 
spirit  of  detachment  from  things  earthly  we  obtain 
one  of  the  true  accompaniments  of,  and  helps  to. 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  71 

that  spirit  of  attachment  to  God  which  is  found  in 
prayer. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  watching. 
"Watching  thereunto  with  all  perseverance"  (Eph. 
vi.  18);  "Continue  in  prayer,  and  watch  in  the 
same  with  thanksgiving"  (Col.  iv.  2).  There  are 
two  words  rendered  by  our  word  "watch" ;  one 
simply  means  "the  absence  of  sleep/'  and  the  other 
"expectation."  This  "watching"  is  associated  with 
prayer  in  a  number  of  passages.  But  what  does 
it  mean.^  It  is  very  suggestive  and  significant  to 
notice  that  in  the  New  Testament  we  never  find 
any  object  attached  to  the  word  "watch."  We  are 
never  told  what  to  watch.  It  does  not  say,  "Watch 
your  enemies/'  or  "Watch  Satan,"  or  even  "Watch 
yourselves."  The  word  is  absolutely  free  gram- 
matically from  any  definite  object;  and  this  may 
be  intended  to  teach  us  we  are  to  be  concerned 
only  with  watching  Christ.  Not  looking  in,  watch- 
ing our  sins;  not  looking  round,  watching  our 
enemies — we  shall  get  baffled  if  we  watch  them; 
not  looking  round  and  watching  men;  but  watch- 
ing Christ,  "looking  unto  Jesus."  If  we  look  into 
our  hearts  we  shall  despair;  but  if  we  look  to 
Christ  we  shall  see  ourselves  as  He  sees  us,  and 
we  shall  see  the  precious  blood  and  the  merit  of 
the  atoning  sacrifice.  Occupied  with  Him  we  shall 
be  guarded,  guided,  and  blessed  in  all  things,  and 


72  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

be  enabled  to  wait  in  expectation  of  His  answers 
to  our  prayer.  So  "watching  unto  prayer,"  our 
eyes  will  be  fixed  on  Christ  in  an  attitude  of  ex- 
pectation, looking  off  from  everything  else  to  Him, 
and  waiting  His  answers  to  our  petitions.  "I  will 
direct  my  prayer  unto  Thee,  and  will  look  up" 
(Psalm  V.  3).  May  this  ever  be  the  necessary 
accompaniment  to  our  prayer. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  obedience  (1 
John  iii.  22).  We  obtain  our  petitions  because  we 
obey  God  and  do  what  is  pleasing  in  His  sight. 
This  does  not  mean  that  obedience  is  the  ground  of 
answered  prayer,  for  God's  mercy  and  love  are 
the  only  foundation  of  blessing.  It  means  that 
only  in  an  obedient  spirit  can  we  expect  blessing. 
It  would  be  incongruous  and  impossible  for  us  to 
pray  and  expect  answers  while  our  lives  are  out 
of  harmony  with  God  and  we  are  living  in  dis- 
obedience to  His  will.  "If  I  regard  iniquity  in 
my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear  me."  When  the 
soul  is  true  to  God  blessing  inevitably  comes,  for 
obedience  is  ever  one  of  the  pathways  to  power 
in  prayer. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  forgiveness 
(Mark  xi.  25).  The  necessity  of  forgiveness  of 
our  fellow-Christians  and  of  all  men  is  frequently 
emphasised  by  our  Lord  and  also  by  His  Apostles 
(Matt.  vi.  14;  Mark  xi.  25;  Eph.  iv.  32;  CoL  iii. 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  73 

18).  In  the  Lord's  Prayer  we  are  taught  to  ask 
for  God's  forgiveness,  since  we  ourselves  have  the 
spirit  of  forgiveness  which  we  desire  to  receive 
ourselves.  If  there  is  any  grudge  or  resentment 
in  the  heart,  to  say  nothing  of  anger  and  malice, 
there  is  no  possibility  of  prayer  being  answered. 
If  we  should  say,  "I  forgive  but  I  cannot  forget," 
it  may  well  mean  that  we  do  not  really  forgive 
after  all.  Without  a  sincere  and  hearty  spirit  of 
loving  forgiveness  there  cannot  possibly  be  any 
power  in  prayer,  and  the  Lord's  word  stands  out 
clear  and  sharp.  "When  ye  stand  praying, 
forgive.'* 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  thanksgiving. 
Philippians  iv.  6  is  one  among  many  passages. 
"In  everything  by  prayer  and  supplication  with 
thanksgiving,  let  your  request  be  made  known  unto 
God."  Why  is  thanksgiving  so  frequently  asso- 
ciated with  prayer.^  There  must  be  some  reason 
for  it.  If  we  look  at  St.  Paul's  Epistles  we  very 
seldom  find  the  one  mentioned  without  the  other. 
It  is  probably  intended  to  suggest  the  attitude  of 
appropriation  as  well  as  of  supplication.  Prayer 
is  asking;  thanksgiving  is  testifying  that  we  have 
received.  It  is  just  here  that  we  fail;  we  ask, 
but  we  do  not  accept  and  appropriate.  Faith  in 
Scripture  is  two-fold  in  meaning.  There  is  the 
faith  that  asks  and  the  faith  that  accepts.     The 


74  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

faith  that  asks  is  expressed  in  prayer,  the  faith 
that  accepts  is  expressed  in  thanksgiving.  We 
are  continually  asking,  but  have  we  the  faith 
that  appropriates?  A  Christian  man  went  to 
lunch  with  an  intimate  friend  whom  he  had  known 
for  twenty-five  years,  and  after  "grace"  was  said, 
the  ordinary  phrase  being  used,  asking  to  be  "made 
truly  thankful,"  the  guest,  claiming  the  privilege 
of  friendship,  enquired,  "When  do  you  expect  to 
get  that  prayer  answered?  You  have  been  pray- 
ing all  these  years  to  be  made  thankful!"  The 
man  had  been  "asking,"  but  never  appropriating. 
He  had  the  faith  that  asks,  but  not  the  faith  that 
accepts.  Many  a  Christian  would  find  life  more 
powerful  and  blessed  if  he  knew  a  little  more  of 
the  faith  that  appropriates,  faith  that  expresses 
itself  in  thanksgiving,  "O  God,  I  thanh  Thee!" 
We  may  see  this  in  the  Revised  Version  of  Mark 
xi.  24,  "Whatsoever  things  ye  desire  when  ye  pray, 
believe  that  ye  have  received  them,  and  ye  shall 
have  them."  Let  us  not  fail  to  accompany  our 
prayer  with  this  appropriation  of  thanksgiving. 

Prayer  must  be  accompanied  by  joy.  "Making 
request  with  joy"  (Phil.  i.  4).  In  some  respects 
this  is  the  deepest  and  most  inclusive  element. 
When  we  come  before  God  our  prayer  should  be 
accompanied  with  inward  satisfaction,  because  we 
are  going  to  meet  our  God  and  are  sure  of  His 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  76 

blessmg.  We  should  experience  the  very  opposite 
of  pain  or  anguish,  and  have  the  consciousness  of 
a  privilege,  a  joy,  in  approaching  God.  There  is 
no  joy  like  the  joy  of  living  in  the  presence  of 
God,  the  joy  of  asking  Him  for  what  we  need,  the 
joy  of  receiving  His  blessed  answers  to  our  pray- 
ers. It  is  the  joy  of  joys  to  realise  our  true  posi- 
tion before  Him,  and  to  be  assured  of  power  in 
prayer.  It  is  the  joy  of  a  great  peace,  the  joy 
of  a  holy  privilege,  the  joy  of  a  perpetual  fellow- 
ship, the  joy  of  a  perfect  satisfaction. 

"My  inmost  soul,  O  Lord,  to  Thee 

Leans  Hke  a  growing  flower 
Unto  the  light;  I  do  not  know 

The  day  nor  blessed  hour 
When  that  deep-rooted,  daring  growth 

We  call  the  heart's  desire 
Shalt  burst  and  blossom  to  a  prayer 

Within  the  sacred  fire 
Of  Thy  great  patience;  grow  so  pure, 

So  still,  so  sweet  a  thing 
As  perfect  prayer  must  surely  be. 

And  yet  my  heart  will  sing 
Because  Thou  seem'st  sometimes  so  near. 

Close-present  God!  to  me, 
It  seems  I  could  not  have  a  wish 

That  was  not  shared  by  Thee; 
It  seems  I  cannot  be  afraid 

To  speak  my  longings  out. 
So  tenderly  Thy  gathering  love 

Enfolds  me  round  about; 


76  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding 

It  seems  as  if  my  heart  would  break, 

If,  living  on  the  light. 
It  should  not  lift  to  Thee  at  last 

A  bud  of  flawless  white. 
And  yet,  O  helpless  heart!  how  sweet 

To  grow,  and  bud,  and  say: 
*The  flower,  however  marred  or  wan. 

Shall  not  be  cast  away.* " 

We  have  now  considered  the  main  lines  of 
Scripture  teaching  on  the  subject  of  prayer,  though 
only  the  fringe  of  a  vast  territory  has  been 
touched.  By  means  of  a  concordance  we  may  work 
out  more  fully  for  ourselves  these  lines  of  medita- 
tion and  study,  and  find  in  them  the  source  of  in- 
creasing spiritual  blessing. 

If  anyone  should  inquire  how  such  a  life  of 
prayer  is  possible,  the  answer  is  clear  and  unmis- 
takable. For  this  attitude  of  prayer  we  must 
have  times  of  prayer.  The  attitude  is  based  on 
acts,  and  times  of  prayer  are  necessary  as  the 
occasions  of  storage  and  accumulation  of  light,  and 
power,  and  grace.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  not  a  day 
passes  without  definitely  going  aside  with  God  for 
solitary  prayer. 

How  shall  we  commence?  Let  us  start  with  five 
minutes  only.  Opening  our  Bible  with  a  prayer 
for  God's  illumination,  let  us  read  a  verse  or  short 
passage  as  the  message  of  God  to  our  souls.    Then 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  77 

we  may  turn  the  verse  into  prayer  and  thus  spend 
those  five  minutes  with  God.  Let  us  do  this  again 
the  next  day,  and  again  the  day  after.  We  should 
not  go  beyond  the  five  minutes  until  these  are 
fully  enjoyed.  It  will  not  be  long  before  we 
shall  be  conscious  of  spiritual  illumination  and 
satisfaction  as  we  wait  before  God  in  prayer,  and 
very  soon  our  five  minutes  will  be  extended.  We 
shall  enjoy  this  time  so  much  that  the  minutes 
will  be  all  too  short,  and  we  shall  find  it  possible 
to  do  that  easiest  of  all  things  in  the  world,  make 
time! 

It  is  this  failure  to  spend  a  definite,  even 
though  it  be  short,  time  each  day  with  God  that 
is  the  secret  of  all  weakness,  variableness,  and 
shallowness  in  our  spiritual  experience  and  service. 
We  sometimes  sing, 

"Oh,  the  pure  delight  of  a  single  hour 
That  before  Thy  Throne  I  spend." 

A  single  hour!  How  often  do  we  do  it?  How 
many  of  us  do  it.^  A  single  hour!  And  yet  we 
hurry  over  our  prayer-time  and  fail  to  give  God 
one-quarter  of  a  single  hour.  Of  course  He  only 
expects  the  "hour"  if  we  really  can  give  it,  and 
it  is  wonderful  how  much  prayer  we  can  put  into 
five  minutes  and  how  much  blessing  we  can  get 
out  of  it  if  only  these  few  minutes  are  practicable 


78  Life  Abiding  and  Abounding* 

for  us.  Our  time  may  not  be  long,  but  it  must 
be  regular;  and  from  the  act  will  come  the  habit^ 
and  from  the  habit  the  attitude,  and  from  the 
attitude  the  character,  settled,  strong,  sure,  and 
abiding,  wherein  God's  presence  will  be  more  and 
more  a  delight,  and  God's  power  more  and  more 
realized. 

"When  thou  wakest  in  the  morning, 

Ere  thou  tread  the  untried  way 
Of  the  lot  that  lies  before  thee 

Through  the  coming  busy  day, 
Whether  sunbeams  promise  brightness, 

Whether  dim  forebodings  fall, 
Be  thy  dawning  glad  or  gloomy. 

Go  to  Jesus — tell  Him  all. 

In  the  calm  of  sweet  communion 

Let  thy  daily  work  be  done, 
In  the  peace  of  soul  outpouring 

Care  be  banished,  patience  won. 
And  if  earth  with  its  enchantments 

Seek  thy  spirit  to  enthrall, 
Ere  thou  listen — ere  thou  answer. 

Turn  to  Jesus — tell  Him  all. 

Then  as  hour  by  hour  glides  by  thee 

Thou  wilt  blessed  guidance  know. 
Thine  own  burden  being  lightened. 

Thou  canst  bear  another's  woe. 
Thou  canst  help  the  weak  ones  onward. 

Thou  canst  raise  up  those  that  fall. 
But  remember,  while  thou  servest, 

Still  tell  Jesus— tell  Him  all. 


Accompaniments  of  Prayer  79 

And  if  weariness  creeps  o'er  thee 

As  the  day  wears  to  its  close, 
Or  if  sudden  fierce  temptations 

Bring  thee  face  to  face  with  foes, 
In  thy  weakness,  in  thy  peril. 

Raise  to  heaven  a  trustful  call. 
Strength  and  calm  for  every  crisis 

Come — in  telling  Jesus  all." 

O.  M.  Taylor, 


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